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Poster for Gangster No. 1

Gangster No. 1

2000 · 103 min

A cold, stylish plunge into a sociopath's mind, stylishly told with brutal violence and a haunting sense of emptiness.

Directed by
Paul McGuigan
Genres
Action, Drama, Thriller
Tagline
There can only be ONE!
Overview
An old gangster is advised that Freddie Mays would leave jail after thirty years in prison. His mood changes and he recalls when he was a young punk and who joined Freddie's gang—a man he both envied and ultimately betrayed.

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Directed by
Paul McGuigan
Genres
Action, Drama, Thriller
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • darkstrength 3 of 3
  • bleakstrength 3 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • cynicalstrength 2 of 3
Pacing
brisk, 3 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • obsession
  • betrayal
  • ambition
  • power
  • identity
Places
  • big city
  • prison
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • nonlinear
Content intensity
  • Gore strong
  • Language strong
  • Violence strong
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action5
Horror4
Humour2
Realism7
Romance1
Tension7
Darkness9
Complexity6
Emotional weight7

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Cast

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Details

Genres
action, drama, thriller, crime
Directed by
Paul McGuigan
Written by
Johnny Ferguson
Starring
Paul Bettany, Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis, Jamie Foreman, Saffron Burrows, Kenneth Cranham, Eddie Marsan, Andrew Lincoln
Music
John Dankworth
Cinematography
Adrian Biddle
Runtime
103 min
Country
Germany, Ireland, United Kingdom
Languages
English

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