I've been watching Peaky Blinders. It is a violent, ribald and intriguing story based on a real gang of gypsies who were involved in crime and politics in Birmingham, England during the early 1900s. Their charismatic leader, Thomas Shelby, is played by Cillian Murphy, who won an Oscar this year for his portrayal of Robert Oppenheimer in the award-winning film, Oppenheimer.
Wow. This series sizzles like a piece of raw meat on a hot grille. Murphy steals every scene in which he appears -- his blue eyes, round cheeks and pleasant good looks draw you in. His resonant Shakespearean voice seals the deal. But make no mistake, he's one shrewd dude, every nuance calculated.
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| Tommy Shelby |
The Shelby family are the Peaky Blinders, named for their flat caps whose brims, pulled low, shade their faces. Legend tells us that inside those brims were hidden razor blades. Their tailored long coats flare like evil wings when the Blinders walk the shadowy streets of industrial, working class Birmingham evoking a chill in the smokey air, with potential violence at every corner.
"How can you watch this?" my lovely spouse asks, following a fury of spilling guts.
I have no answer other than I enjoy the tension and righteousness of a downtrodden class attempting to succeed. It reminds me of the cowboy movies I watched when I was young. My mother asked me the same question, even forbade me to watch those shoot 'em-up B-level flicks. I was more upset with my mother's censorship.
"Too much killing," she said.
"It's just a TV show. All my friends watch it."
My will was too strong. I had to watch.
I don't binge on Peaky Blinders. I watch one or two episodes and turn it off. When I prepare to stream another, part of me cringes, mindful of the raw violence and misogynistic sex, but once the episode begins I fall under its spell, beginning with the opening music, dark and foreboding, by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
We are an interesting species that cannot seem to get along. These are our ancestors. Or many of ours. Themes of despair, hedonism, revenge and identity strike nerves. Not so lost today, they make for good theater that ideally we can learn and evolve beyond. Modern Shakespeare.
Esteemed British actress Helen McCrory plays Polly Gray, Tommy's sister, a beguiling gypsy cohort, expressing pearls of wisdom: "Sometimes the women have to take over. Like in the war." She is a major player.
McCrory, 52, died from breast cancer, unexpectedly, during the beginning of the sixth and final season (2021). She kept it a secret. It was a devastating blow to the cast and crew who had to re-produce at least one episode, in which she would die. It is dedicated to her memory.
I don't know how the series ends. I can't believe it will be a happy ending. I have just begun the final season. No spoilers here.
My mother and I loved to stay up late and watch movies on TV, especially on Saturday nights. Her favorite actors were Joseph Cotten and Vincent Price, because of their voices. She would complain about British films, saying they liked to leave parts out, expecting viewers to pick up the story. This BBC production is guilty of same. Some of the scenes are meant simply for drama, like the dialog between Tommy and the Jewish mobster Alfie Solomon, played by Tom Hardy, whose cunning and dialect as Alfie are nothing short of fabulous.
Because the language is difficult to understand at times, I watch with English subtitles, and will stop and replay a scene to fully appreciate the poetry. The story line includes historical events and characters including the U.S. Stock Market Crash of 1929, Prohibition, the oncoming of Fascism in Europe, the role of the early IRA (Irish Republican Army) and British statesman Winston Churchill on his way to becoming Prime Minister. Five stars. If you've got the stomach.
"I am as true as truth's simplicity, and simpler than the infancy of truth." William Shakespeare
Fun Fact: The series was filmed in Liverpool, home of the Fab Four Beatles, including the neighborhood where drummer Ringo Starr grew up.
'the dialog between Tommy and the Jewish mobster Alfie Solomon, played by Tom Hardy, whose cunning and dialect as Alfie are nothing short of fabulous.' Absolutely. Hardy is the modern Lon Chaney - the man with a 1000 faces. Under that long beard, you wouldn't know it was him. The Blinders doing their macho walk through town wearing unscale threads is reminiscent of the Tongs in the late 1900s wearing suits crusing Chinatown in San Francisco.
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