Villain

Michael Tuchner's 1971 British film is among the harshest works of London crime cinema. The gang boss Vic Dakin, played by Richard Burton, crosses a line by blackmailing Members of Parliament, and Scotland Yard sets out to bring him down. The character was written openly from the model of the Kray brothers, particularly Ronnie Kray. What stands out is that the film does not hide Dakin's homosexuality and neither excuses it nor uses it as an explanation; his violence and his desire belong to the same man, a bold choice in British cinema in 1971. His relationship with Wolfe, played by Ian McShane, is the story's centre. Burton's performance was called excessive, but the character's menace comes precisely from that excess. Who it's for: viewers interested in British crime cinema and 1970s London genre production. Who it's not for: anyone avoiding graphic violence and sexual violence, or troubled by homosexuality being framed as an attribute of villainy.