Gary Oldman is Clive 'Bex' Bissell, an intelligent family man with a good job, who also happens to be the leader of the notorious East London hooligan firm, the Inner City Crew. Bex plans to unite rival gangs into a national firm to take to the European Championships, but that will mean defeating Oboe's Birmingham crew and the South London Buccaneers led by arch rival Yeti (Phil Davis). As Bex's craving for violence becomes an obsession, events spiral out of control.
Alan Clarke's unflinching drama courted much controversy when it was first broadcast in a toned down version on the BBC. Now, it is rightly considered a masterpiece, due in no small part to the brilliance of Oldman's central performance - one of the finest of his career.
Newly transferred in HD, and available on Blu-ray for the very first time, The Firm is presented here in two versions: the never-before-seen Director's Cut, which re-instates a number of bold sequences previously considered too controversial for audiences; and the original BBC TV broadcast version.
The complete Alan Clarke at the BBC is also available in DVD and Blu-ray box sets from the BFI.
Extras:
Remastered in HD for the first time
The Firm: Director's Cut (World premiere presentation)
The Firm: Original broadcast version (Blu-ray premiere presentation)
David Leland introduces The Firm (1991)
Elephant (1989, 38 minutes): Clarke's final, unflinching drama, set in Northern Ireland
Elephant audio commentary with producer Danny Boyle
Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light (2016): documentary on Clarke and his final works
Cast and Crew:
Director: Alan Clarke (Scum, Rita Sue and Bob Too)
Cast: Gary Oldman (Batman series, Leon), Lesley Manville (Secrets & Lies, Maleficient, River), Phil Davis (Poldark, Sherlock), Steve McFadden (EastEnders)
Awards and Reviews:
Winner of the Prix Europa (1990) for TV Fiction
'One of the best dramas ever on television' Guardian
'The nearest TV ever got to getting under the skin of soccer hooligans' The Sun
'Fizzing with testosterone' The Times
'By some way the best movie on the subject of football hooliganism and a key text on the subject of Thatcher's Britain' - The Observer
4.5/5 'a brilliant and compelling drama' - Film4
'Oldman is stunning' - Total Film
Size Reference for BFI The Firm - Director's Cut
Available Sizes:
