Influential British gangster thriller The Long Good Friday still packs a punch with its twist filled exploration into crime and industry in late-1970s London, led by a mighty Bob Hoskins in his breakthrough role.

There are those movies that come along and change the landscape of not only a genre, but a culture. The Long Good Friday is one of those films. Written by Barrie Keeffe and directed by John Mackenzie, this gangster classic had such an impact on the British crime movie that the reverberations can still be felt decades later. The movies of Guy Ritchie, Mathew Vaughn, and others would not exist without the influence of The Long Good Friday. For a film about industry, The Long Good Friday had a significant impact of its own.

The film stars Bob Hoskins as Harold Shand, the kingpin of London’s criminal network, whose plans to redevelop London Docklands is a major part of his strategy to expand his power and reach into the industrial and real estate networks that are set to boom.  With his loyal partner Victoria (Helen Mirren) by his side, and American mafia boss Charlie (Eddie Constantine) in town as a potential investor, all is looking sunny for Shand’s future, until the IRA make their presence known by targeting Shand’s crime network one violent act at a time.

McKenzie does a great job weaving different elements to make for a complex yet utterly compelling crime thriller. Part mystery, part gangster movie, part commentary on the incestuous relationship between crime and capitalism, The Long Good Friday is as smart as it is entertaining. The script by Barrie Keeffe is full of character and just the right amount of exposition into the changing nature of London (especially its docklands) and the importance this has on a story about one man’s aspiration for an empire thrust away with acts of violence both intimate and savage.

That this story is set on Good Friday, one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar in which the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is remembered, is telling. Although in no way a religious film, this undoing of a man who thinks himself a god during a time when reverence is given to the time when Christ had died and resurrected, is of rich irony. In one moment that irony is shattered when a man if found crucified on the floor of an abandoned building, one of many scenes of shocking violence.

Bob Hoskins is terrific as Shand, a gangster who is as aspirational as he is ruthless. His breakthrough role, Hoskins portrays the emotional weight and street-smart intelligence to Shand that is challenged when his kingdom is attacked by a mysterious and deadly force. Delivering impeccably written lines (some of which have become British film lore) through a rough cockney brogue, Hoskins is equally as powerful when stone silent, giving a masterclass in body language as represented during the films now iconic conclusion.

Excellent too is Helen Mirren as Victoria, Shand’s partner in love and crime who attempts to bring a class and sophistication to Shand’s workmanlike, gruff gangster personality. A who’s who of actors also appear, ranging from Paul Freeman as a gay gangster, Alan Ford as one of Shandy’s foot soldiers, and a fresh-faced Pierce Brosnan as an Irish assassin.

Brilliant and brutal, The Long Good Friday is an impressively made British gangster classic of ever reaching influence.