The Hit

Dir: Stephen Frears

1984

*****

Director Stephen Frears has had a fascinating career. He will mean something different depending on the person, he's probably best known these days for The Queen (2006), while my generation will most likely think of High Fidelity (2000) although Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) has opened up a whole new audience for him. Most cinephiles will immediately think of his early films such as My Beautiful Launderette (1985) and Prick Up Your Ears (1987) and his big successes Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and The Grifters (1990) but for me, it is probably his best and most influential film that is largely forgotten and overlooked that comes to mind. 1984's The Hit, Frears' second feature, starring John Hurt, Terence Stamp, Laura del Sol and Tim Roth is full of suspense, has an amazing script and is full of wonderful characters, performed brilliantly by the lead cast. After The Hit came Sexy Beast, Gangster No.1, The Limey and eventually Snatch, while film's like The Long Good Friday can also take credit for great British gangster films post-'84, The Hit offered something a little different. I have absolutely no doubt that Tim Roth was hired to play Mr. Orange in Reservoir Dogs because of his performance here and indeed, all of Quentin Tarantino's film have a little bit of The Hit in them. Hurt and Roth make a phenomenal on-screen duo (Braddock and Myron), partners in crime, one hot-headed and reckless, the other a silent world-weary professional killer, a couple of heavies for a big crime boss. The pair are sent to Spain to capture Willie Parker (played by the brilliant Terence Stamp), an ex-gangster who has been in hiding for over a decade after giving evidence in court that incriminated his criminal compatriots, sending them all down for serious time. After snatching him from his hide-out, the two heavies realise that a Spanish police-man has been killed in error and the three men head to their nearest safe-house. Here, they are startled to find Harry (played by Bill Hunter), another gangster who previously worked with Braddock. Thinking the house was unused, Harry had been staying there with his girlfriend Maggie and when Willie intentionally introduces himself, Harry and Maggie soon become witnesses to a delicate situation where trust isn't enough. This scene alone is everything Tarantino has ever wanted to recreate. It is thrilling and electric in its intensity. As the story continues, the characters reveal a little bit more about themselves just before the unpredictable and climactic conclusion. The direction is stunning, Frears is a great director but this was only his second film (first in well over a decade) and he was far more used to working on small screen productions. Some of the shots are beautiful, the stuff of John Ford, Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah and indeed it feels just as much a western than it does a gangster movie. The performances between the five main players is outstanding, it is no wonder that Tim Roth was nominated for the BAFTA for best newcomer in what was only his second film. To think that Joe Strummer of The Clash was originally going to play his part, thankfully his bad-mates talked him out of it and he suggested Roth after seeing him in Alan Clarke's Made in Britain (1982). It's the great British gangster masterpiece that no one ever talks about, it was received well but didn't make any money and didn't have a wide release. It's probably one of the best British films ever made and certainly one of the best gangster films ever produced as well as the most influential.