One of director Alan Clarke's last film, The Firm was a controversial film for the BBC Screen Two strand dealing with the issue of football hooliganism a topical subject in 1980s Britain.This film mixed football gang violence with Thatcher's 80s Britain with the rise of the Yuppies. In fact in the late 80s there was some evidence that the new breed of football hooligans were not skinheads in denims but rather aspirational and smartly dressed.The opening scene with the protagonists playing a football match features no actual football.Gary Oldman is charismatic as Bexy a cocky estate agent by day with a wife and young child but also the leader of the Inter City firm who has vision of leading the English contingent of hooligans in the 1988 European football championship which was a damp squib for the actual English football team.Bexy has run ins with rival gangs especially the one led by Phil Davis. This is a memorable Screen Two film not only because of its subject matter, but it also contained many rising stars such as Phil Davis, Nick Dunning as well as Oldman and rather a few people who became better known in soap operas.The film was remade in 2009 for a cinema release but its this version which has stood the test of time with Oldman's performance at the centre, Al Hunter's writing and Alan Clarke's direction.

This was regarded at one point as being the greatest ever film to feature football hooliganism so much so that when Nick Love remade it in 2009 you'd think he'd committed the worst cultural taboo imaginable judging by some reactions . To be fair to Love his remake wasn't so much a remake but more of a reworking of the original story where a peripheral character became the story's focus and where character dynamics were completely different . Even so the original version of THE FIRM has gained such a reputation over the years it's almost like the holy grail of hooligan films . After seeing it again I have to question why this is ? Certainly it's a very entertaining film but not necessarily for the right reasons . The story centres around which football firm will be leading the charge of English football violence at the 1988 Euro Championship in West Germany . It's dog eat dog , survival of the fittest as a group of well known British actors from EASTENDERS , ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES and CORONATION ST try and mince one another to death . It's WWF meets Derek Jarman as they try and come up with the meanest put down while trying to act all tough and macho . I'll give the cast some credit and say they must have put a lot of rehearsal in to this because the lines are genuinely funny even though one suspects they weren't supposed to be Alan Clarke seems a strange choice as director . Regarded as one of the greats of British realist cinema and whose inspiration is still felt today he can't really make the characters or situations any more realistic than the cartoonish characters appear to be on the written page . Worse than that his realist style seems to jar with the genuinely cartoonish witty one liners that contradicts the feeling this might in anyway be a realist film . His use of steadicam used so effectively in SCUM is slightly distracting THE FIRM also suffers from a very dated feel . The thugs seen here are relatively old and affluent and you can see there's a slight social commentary equating soccer violence with Thatcherism and social mobility . But at the end of the day everything about it has a camp feel and one wonders if the demise of the football hooligan had a lot to do with them being portrayed as latent homosexuals which is definitely a feeling you get with this film

Finally got to re-watch this British classic on the newly released DVD, and it's as good as I remember it in 1988. Football hooligans strive for power, trying to prove themselves before a venture with their teams into Europe. Gary Oldman showed what a talent he was as the lead character Bex Bissell, estate agent by day, Inter City Crew leader by night (and Saturday afternoons of course!).The film is relentless in it's progress, keeping you gripped, and you see the commitment the characters have with their commitment to the cause. All the actors play their part, and the only critisism of the film is at 67 minutes it's too short-you want it to go on longer, but all in all, it is a classic, and well worth watching. 8/10.

Even though this tale of Grown-Up Gang Members is ugly, violent, and at times, shocking, nothing is more startling about it, than yet another brilliant performance by Gary Oldman.Most people who follow Gary Oldman's works, will know that this is a role very far from the real Gary. Yet, as usual, he puts his entire being into convincing us that he is, in fact, a semi-psychotic with a passion for physical violence.I recommend the film ONLY to SERIOUS Oldman-fans. Others will probably not like the material, nor the look of this dark film.