There is a CineTV contest going on at the moment which wants us to write about our favorite character from a film. Here's a link.
@cinetv/contest
So many options but, we can only pick one. This was a hard choice to make, I was thinking of writing about Samwise Gamgee as I find him to be one of the strongest characters in the lord of the rings trilogy. Then I thought of Luke Skywalker as, again, he's a really good character we see develop over the course of the star wars trilogy. But, then I thought no. Someone from a stand-alone film might be a better choice. Still though, the choices were endless. Then it hit me, Snatch. Which was released in 2000 and directed and written by Guy Ritchie. It combines dark humor and crime in a way that not many would be able to pull off, which was only helped by the great cast of the film.
One of my top ten films of all time, which I have seen I don't know how many times and can quote verbatim. Me and some friends are constantly throwing lines at each other from this film because we all find the dialog so funny and memorable. Who better to discuss from Snatch, than the villain of the film, (Alan Ford) as Brick Top.
The first time we see Brick Top in the film he is beating a man to death with a mallet while his henchmen hold the guy down on a pool table.
One of my favorite quotes of his is after the first fight we see Mickey (Brad Pitt) in, Mickey is supposed to take a dive but, doesn't. As Brick Top is leaving he is being stopped by displeased people who he had tipped off about fixed fight, who lost their bets.
One person stops him near the end.
MAN:
Well, thanks for the tip Brick Top.
(Brick Top grabs him by the face and pins him against a wall.)
BRICK TOP:
Listen to me you fuckin' fringe.
When I throw a dog a bone. I don't
want to know if it tastes good or not.
You stop me again while I'm walking and
I'll cut your fuckin' Jacobs off.
(Brick Top pulls a knife and cuts the man)
As we saw before this guy stops him, he is patient depending on who it is he's dealing with. Instantly though, as we see this exchange we know that he has a short fuse when dealing with people who aren't notable members of the world of organized crime. (I tried to format the pieces of dialog like a script, I hope it comes out looking alright when I post this.)
Throughout the course of the film, Brick Top is almost untouchable by the standards of everyone else, in some films they might just use exposition to tell the audience that this guy is scary and or dangerous. But, not with Snatch. Guy Ritchie has a great way of telling a story and not only that but, his dialog is very witty and not only can have you laughing but, also keeps your attention.
Snatch in general is a great film to me, for many reasons, when I first saw it as a teenager. I'd never seen a film that was edited the way Snatch was and I thought the language the characters used was not only funny but, also compelling and the storyline, in general, Is great (IMO). It seemed complicated, but, by the end is all wrapped up in a bow, coming full circle and ending in a way that could almost leave it open for a sequel, but, I'm glad they never did come back to do Snatch 2, as I can't imagine it being half as good as the original.
One thing the film does well is everything happens for a reason. As the main character Turkish (Jason Statham) Says at the end "For every action, there is a reaction." This, because of this, or this happens, But, this because of that, therefore, this happens.
Matt Stone and Trey Parker have a clip floating around where they attended a talk for some college class who were studying writing or maybe filmmaking, I'm not sure which. But, the advice they give is really good for anyone who enjoys writing and maybe doesn't understand why they might be missing something from it, here's a link if you want to watch it. It's only 2 minutes long.
All the best stories are full of But, therefore and because, rather than, and then. Snatch follows the same rule.
As I said previously Brick Top is almost untouchable and everyone answers to him and can't do much to step in his way, all except one character. Mickey The one-punch machine gun.
Mickey is brought in, to replace Turkish and Tommy's original fighter Gorgeous George, after Mickey breaks his jaw early in the film. But, Mickey doesn't follow Brick Tops' rules and doesn't go down when he is supposed to. Therefore, Brick Top tells his henchmen to "Punish him." In order to send him a message. So they end up burning out Mickey's mum's Caravan while she was asleep in it. This causes the start of Brick Tops' downfall. Underestimating people is the reason for his death at the end of the film.
He had a whole plan to kill everyone if Mickey messed up the final fight. But, Mickey had made his own plan. Betting on himself from the start he had been earning off Brick Top and his cronies' fights and at the end of the film, we see Mickey's plan come together. Brick Top stands at his car as he sees the others exit the building and shouts. "Give me the fuckin' shooter!" But, then we see that it's Mickey's men inside, the reply is so funny to me. "I'll give you your shooter ya cunt, ya."
His story wraps up there, as does the main story of the film. I think like most villains, their downfall is usually underestimating their enemies. But, as a character Brick Top doesn't play the villain of this story, in a typical way, although he does fall into the same trap as most other villains. Relying too heavily on intimidation, and just assuming that everything will stay as it, presumably, has been for years.
He is depicted as a scumbag we are all supposed to hate, but, I find it hard to hate him as a character as he really owns the screen whenever he's on, with his charisma and well-timed dialog. I don't think this movie would be the same if it was directed or starred anyone other than the people involved in it. I was wondering what Snatch would be like if it was made at the same time, over in America, and had to laugh to myself at one piece of Brick Tops (Alternative) dialog.
BRICK TOP:
You're a ruthless little Jerk-off Liam,
I'll give you that. But, I've got no time for
snitches.
It just wouldn't have been the same film done by anyone else, or starring anyone else. It was a tough call to choose one character from it over any of the others as they are all great, but, as a ruthless, witty, villain, Brick Top stood at the top of the pile. Also, if there is one takeaway from the film as a whole, always be wary of anyone who owns a pig farm. I think I'll leave this write-up with one more piece of Brick Tops dialog.
BRICK TOP:
Do you know what nemesis means? (BEAT)
A righteous infliction of retribution manifested
by an appropriate agent. Personified in this
case by an 'orrible" Cunt. (BEAT) Me.
So ends this write-up on the man himself, hope you liked my post about this great character.