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| Title: | Movie Reviews and Discussion |
| Notice: | Please do DIR/TITLE before starting a new topic on a movie! |
| Moderator: | VAXCPU::michaud o.dec.com::tamara::eppes |
|
| Created: | Thu Jan 28 1993 |
| Last Modified: | Thu Jun 05 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 1249 |
| Total number of notes: | 16012 |
447.0. "The Krays" by DSSDEV::RUST () Mon Jan 31 1994 16:49
I'd been intrigued by this one since it hit the theaters, but never got
around to seeing it until a mild tape-rental fit came over me this
weekend. It's a based-in-fact story about twin brothers
(charismatically played by the brothers Kemp from the group Spandau
Ballet) who became kingpins of crime - but it's not, with a few grisly
exceptions, a gangster story. The boys' mother is the central figure;
the film covers the period from the birth of the twins to the death of
the mother, and views the Krays' criminal activities from the "home base"
of their mother's drawing room.
I didn't find the film as sensational as I'd expected; perhaps the
reviews I read were colored by the more spectacular splatter scenes
(which were pretty effective, though a very small part of the film as a
whole - we already knew the brothers were psychotic, so the additional
slittings and gougings were just icing on the cake, so to speak). To
me, the film was the tale of a pair of blue-collar kids who made good,
despite an absentee father, a tigerish mother, and a doting aunt. And
they were such good boys; they'd hold their "business meetings" in a
room upstairs from Mum's, so she could pop in with tea and biscuits and
a friendly greeting to all the boys... The scenes in which the audience
learns just what business it is that the lads are excelling in seemed
like asides.
The effect should have been chilling, this mix of cold-blooded savagery
with teacups and chintz, but it didn't quite get to me, and I'm not
sure why. The performances were strong, but the narrative seemed to
wander, and while there was something of a climax near the end, roughly
comparable to the mass-vengeance scene in "The Godfather", it didn't
have anywhere near the same impact. [Perhaps the director was trying
for a more phlegmatic mood, the Krays being British, after all. ;-)]
All in all, I found it worth watching, but not worth going to a lot of
trouble for. [Is that a **?]
-b
| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 447.1 | 1.618 *s | VMSDEV::HALLYB | Fish have no concept of fire | Mon Jan 31 1994 21:59 | 15 |
| Compare this to, say, Goodfellas or maybe the last Godfather movie.
The Krays are way outclassed. In my opinion it's because we don't
develop any sympathy for the Kray kids. Goodfellas went thru a lot
of effort to explain the central character's motivations. We don't
approve of what he does but at least we can see where he's coming from
and take some sort of voyeuristic satisfaction when he successfully
bombs a restaurant and enjoys the flamage.
The Krays, on the other hand, just sort of move from one shootout to
the next -- with occasional breaks for tea at home. Perhaps the
director was consciously trying to portray them as cold, emotionless
killers. Not as "romantic" as the typical gangster fare. At least,
that's what I remember...I saw the video a couple years ago.
John
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| 447.2 | | 65320::RIVERS | Stupid, STUPID rat creatures! | Tue Feb 01 1994 11:21 | 23 |
| Oh, I really liked this movie. In fact, in it's own way, I liked it
better than the Godfather(s). The Krays struck me as a character study
more than a full-blown gangster drama. And of course, add to that the
fact that I think psychotic people are really interesting. :) It was
well-acted, nicely-filmed and (to me) pretty engrossing.
I would grant it's not for everybody -- it's a bit slow, not full of
gunfire, and often times, even it seems evens British gangsters act like
Alfred the butler. ;) And no, the characters aren't particularly
sympathetic, but I don't think where meant to be (FWIW, I didn't find
Michael Corleone particularly sympathetic either. I found him a terrific
ass. But I was still curious to see what would happen next).
I'd give this a solid *** out of ****.
Naturally, your mileage may vary.
Cheers,
kim
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| 447.3 | Good rental, good story | 5315::CLARK | | Thu Jun 02 1994 22:49 | 6 |
| Good for a video rental. Quite a fascinating story. If I remember
correctly this is based on a true story. Billy Whitelaw played the mom
and I have always considered her a first rate actress. She played the
nanny who was protecting Damien in "The OMen". The scene where she
attacks Gregory Peck scared the hell out of me. I believe she is
another of England's gifts to American films.
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