Retro Film Review: Get Carter (1971)

(source: tmdb.org)

Judging by the recent Hollywood remakes, late 1960s and early 1970s are supposed to be the last golden era of moviemaking. However, few films made in that period have the honour of being remade not once but twice. One of them is Get Carter, 1971 British thriller directed by Mike Hodges. Only a year after its premiere it was remade as blaxploitation thriller Hit Man, and in 2000 it was remade again, this time under original title. The last version was viewed as a disappointment, but it was also good incentive for younger generation of viewers to be introduced to 1971 original, now regarded as one of the best British films of all times.

The plot of the film is based on Jack's Return Home, novel by Ted Lewis. Protagonist is Jack Carter (played by Michael Caine), professional assassin employed by powerful London gang. His brother Frank died in a traffic accident and he, despite his bosses' wishes, travels to his hometown of Newcastle to attend the funeral. After casual inquiries about details of Frank's death, Jack's instinct and experience tell him that some kind of foul play was involved. But the most telling of all is the fact that Jack's old acquaintances from the local crime scene – gang lord Cyril Kinnear (played by Jack Osborne) and his enforcer Eric Paice (played by Ian Hendry) - want him out of Newcastle as soon as possible. Carter is now determined to settle this matter and he would use his skills and reputation of ruthless killer in order to find who and why killed his brother. But even the years spent in the underworld couldn't prepare him for the awful truth and once he discovers why Frank was killed, Carter would exact terrible revenge on all those he finds responsible.

Like many great movies, Get Carter was initially rejected by critics and public alike. However, it enjoyed cult status among small but dedicated group of filmophiles and its reputation grew through the years until most of the critics and film scholars finally recognised it as one of the best gangster films of all time. It owes most of its late success to the talent of its screenwriter and director Mike Hodges. Get Carter was Hodges' first feature film, but it nevertheless looks like a film made by much more experienced film artist with already established personal film style. Because of that, Get Carter looks like a film that aged very well and could be viewed even by newer generations, yet it shows the distinctive markings of the age it was made.

The most important thing that distinguishes Get Carter from various other gangster films is its style. Hodges enriched the simple revenge story with extremely naturalistic and bleak portrayal of the underworld. In order to achieve it, he used city of Newcastle as the perfect setting for the story and shot almost entire movie on locations, thus creating downbeat atmosphere from the beginning to the end. Many scenes in the film are almost documentary and they portray bleak, industrial city where women wear mini-skirts and dance to swinging 60s tunes but the run-down decaying houses, rampant alcoholism and popularity of bet shops indicate living standard closer to Dickensian than Beatles era. In this cesspool of poverty and decay, it is natural for people to seek any way out - men through crime, women through prostitution. People like Carter are natural product of such environment, and by implicitly stating that, Get Carter is powerful social study as much as it is a gangster film.

However, most people today associate Get Carter with its protagonist, brilliantly portrayed by great British actor Michael Caine in the prime of his career. Many of them tend to think that Get Carter is the best Caine's film. Here Caine, who had built his reputation by playing charming rogues, plays someone who could hardly be viewed as anything short of villain even in our cynical times. His Carter is an efficient killing machine and considering the villains he has to cope with, we are supposed to root for him, but Caine works very hard to remind us of Carter's true nature and moral alignment. We might sympathise with his one-man crusade to avenge the family, but while doing this, Carter not only uses often unpleasant forms of violence, but also allows innocent people to get hurt. Caine achieves this effect through good acting technique - Carter hardly displays any emotion in almost any situation; whether he investigates, seduces women or fights for his life, he always has the same expressionless face. But in few pivotal moments, including powerful ending, he allows hidden emotions and his true nature to come out, making those scenes powerful.

The rest of the cast is also very good, although nobody could really compete with Caine whose character appears almost in the every scene of the film. Among them the most effective is the most unusual casting choice of all -John Osborne, great British playwright and author of Look Back in Anger, who appears in chillingly impressive role of soft- spoken but sinister gang boss. Rosemarie Dunham is also good as a bored forty-something woman who gets exploited by Carter, while appearance of Britt Ekland, the only actress who could be viewed as a star, is probably going to be best remembered by the steamy phone sex scene. Good acting is accompanied by the very good photography by Wolfgang Suschitzky, which perfectly captured the bleak atmosphere of Newcastle. This atmosphere is accompanied by excellent musical score by Roy Budd which is ironic, melancholic and sinister in the same time. Carter's theme is simple but effective and, unlike those used in many 1970s movies, it could be used even today.

Of course, there are those among today's viewers, who might think of Get Carter as too bleak, too slow and too boring to be considered a masterpiece. For them "cool" modern movies like Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels are much better embodiment of British gangster film. But, as a simple but powerful depiction of the way underworld operates in the real life, Get Carter is great film who truly got it right.

RATING: 9/10 (++++)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on February 15th 2002)