The Firm (1988 film)

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The Firm
Directed by Alan Clarke
Produced by David M. Thompson
Written by Al Ashton (as Al Hunter)
Starring Gary Oldman
Lesley Manville
Phil Davis
Charles Lawson
Cinematography Ben Philpott
Richard Philpott
John Ward
Editing by John Strickland
Distributed by BBC
Running time 67 min.
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Firm is a 1988 TV film by Alan Clarke, written by Al Ashton. The film is based on the activities of the Inter City Firm, football firm of West Ham United during the 1970s and 1980s although in the film the firm's name is changed slightly to become the Inter City Crew (ICC). Rival football fans battle it out on the streets in this powerful television drama starring Gary Oldman as Clive 'Bex' or 'Bexy' Bissel. The film is notable for its total lack of music. There is no musical score or diagetic music, not even played over the opening or ending credits.

As with most of Clarke's films, the film was similarly praised and condemned for its depiction of violence. It is said there was an effort made to ban the film, but obviously nothing came of it. The film is often credited as being among the best of the "football hooligan" genre of films. Its current rating on IMDB is 7.0 out of 10 with over 900 votes counted. Its has not registered enough votes at either Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic to produce a rating.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Bexy is a married man with a baby son and it is clear his wife does not approve of his activities as a football hooligan which provide contrast to his respectable job as an estate agent. Even when his baby son injures himself with a Stanley knife carelessly left around by Bexy he is unwilling to give up his interest in violence as he admits it gives him a "buzz". Conversely, Bexy's father shows some degree of acceptance of his son's lifestyle and may have been involved in similar activities in his own era. Bexy uses his natural leadership qualities to cajole (sometimes to the extent of intimidating those less eager) and encourage his peers and plays a key role in organising trips to rival firms. He also has a vision of a national firm, which would join all the smaller firms into one. But his ideas are not accepted by other firm leaders.

Towards the end of the film the pointlessness and futility of being involved in football violence is characterised by the main character Bexy being murdered by the leader of one of their rival firms during a violent clash. Despite the senseless killing of a family man with a child, Bexy's "followers" still regard him as a hero figure and claim that when they are fighting European thugs at a forthcoming tournament they will be doing so in memory of their dead leader. This part of the movie shows the hooligans from three different firms, which were figthing each other not long ago. They claim that Bexy is a visionary that brought them together. So Bexy, a leader of a small firm and a not very well known hooligan, becomes a legend in the eyes of the other hooligans.

Bexy and his fellow hooligans clearly only possess any kind of social status amongst their own groups and Bexy obviously relishes being looked up to and admired by the younger lads in his "firm". Bexy and his friends think of themselves as important, respected figures in their local community but Bexy's wife points out to him that the truth is somewhat different. Everyone thinks of him as a bit of a joke figure but because of their fear of his violent nature few are willing to point out to him that he isn't the working class hero he thinks he is.

Week by week they fight relentlessly, but as the European Championships draw closer, one of the gang leaders, Bex, played by Oldman wants to bring them together to form a super "firm". The film also features Philip Davis, Charles Lawson and Steve McFadden in his acting debut.

[edit] Cast

[edit] VHS and DVD releases

The film was first released on VHS on 21 Oct 1996 in a double pack with the similarly themed ID, with a standalone release following a few years later. A DVD was first released by Prism Leisure on 2 Feb 2004. The film has been sold as part of numerous box-sets, often packed in with other films of a similar nature or from director Alan Clarke. On 10 Sep 2007 a special edition DVD (released in collectible Steelbook packaging) was finally released by BBC. Extra features on the special edition include:

  • An introduction to the film by David Leland
  • A documentary on the life work Alan Clarke
  • Timewatch: A documentary exploring the roots of football hooliganism
  • The Late Show: Panel discussion and critical reaction to the film
  • Audio commentary with Phil Davis and Lesley Manville.

[edit] External links

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