From the Collection: The Long Good Friday

John Mackenzie’s London crime thriller The Long Good Friday has been given a 4k restoration from the Criterion Collection.

A combustible performance from Bob Hoskins is the fuse that lights this underworld saga, a landmark of British crime cinema. Hoskins plays Harold Shand, an ambitious London mobster who, just as he attempts to close a major real-estate deal with the American Mafia, finds his crime empire rocked by a string of attacks, sending him on a ruthless quest to find out who’s responsible. Abetted by an ice-cool performance from Helen Mirren as Shand’s in-command moll, The Long Good Friday is not only a gripping gangster thriller but also a vivid portrait of late-1970s Britain—a powder keg of cultural and political tensions on the verge of explosion.

Here’s what the disc includes:

• New 4K digital restoration, approved by director of photography Phil Méheux, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack 
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the film and special features
• Audio commentary with director John Mackenzie
• An Accidental Studio (2019), a documentary about the early years of Handmade Films
• Introduction by Criterion Collection curatorial director Ashley Clark
• Documentary about the making of the film featuring interviews with Mackenzie and actors Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren
• Interviews with Méheux and screenwriter Barrie Keeffe
• Program comparing the soundtracks for the UK and U.S. releases
• Trailers
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by film critic Ryan Gilbey
• New cover by Eric Skillman 

Eric Skillman’s cover for The Long Good Friday is focused on one thing: the face of Harold Shand, played by Bob Hoskins. His face, which is colored red over the British flag, takes up nearly the entire cover, and rightly so. Not only is Shand a larger-than-life mobster who is trying to go straight only to be forced back into a life he wants to leave behind, but Bob Hoskins gives a towering performance that could be argued as the best of his career. He carries the movie on his back as a brilliant mobster who can flip from charming to menacing with the snap of a finger. Hellen Mirren is excellent as Shand’s wife, who is fully involved in all his doings. Mackenzie crafted a crafty crime thriller. This is a cat-and-mouse thriller about a mobster trying to find the person trying to kill him, sniff out the rat inside his crew, and maintain professionalism in the face of the Americans he is doing business with. Every character is interesting, the plots weave together smoothly, and the film’s final moments are chilling and surprising.

The 4k restoration is outstanding and highlights the grit and gloss of 1980s London. I also loved the two documentaries on the bonus disc, one about the beginnings of Handmade Films (The Long Good Friday was the first film they distributed), and one about making the film.

You can pick up The Long Good Friday at the Criterion Collection website or anywhere Criterion Collection movies are sold.

More From the Collection

Imitation of Life

Three Colors Trilogy

Last Hurrah for Chivilary

The Fisher King

Targets

One False Move

Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams

Drylongso

The Runner

Werckmeister Harmonies

Girlfight

The Underground Railroad

Le Samouraï 

From the Collection is an analysis piece of non-new-release movies, whether seen on DVD, streaming, or in a theater, and includes a brief history of the film, a review of the film, and content about the experience of seeing the film and/or the contents of the film’s DVD.

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