BY ORDER OF THE PEAKY BLINDERS

The Peaky Blinders were a criminal gang
based in Birmingham, England during the late
19th century and, to a lesser extent, in the early 20th.

Allow me to impose a break from the insane reality of American electoral politics and invite you to take a fictitious trip back to Birmingham, England, 1919. The obvious heir to Coppola's Godfather epic, with a dash of DePalma's Scarface, mixed together with Soprano-style family values gone hopelessly and blissfully wrong, Peaky Blinders is easily one of the most entertaining, well crafted, expertly written long form series I've seen in a very long time!

I'd forgotten there was a genre called "epic gangster family saga" - yet here it is, the brainchild of writer/director Steven Knight (Locke, Dirty Pretty Things, and - yes - the creator of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, but that's another story - 'Millionaire was his day job until the high end work took over). 

Playing the sociopathic family man whose moral compass points only towards

self-preservation, Cillian Murphy's Thomas Shelby is a man suffering from

post traumatic stress disorder. A catalyst for the series' major developments,

Shelby is always one step ahead of his antagonists, until he's not. Watching

him outwit those who would destroy him is one of the series' greatest 

pleasures. 

The setup: Post World War I Birmingham, England was the devil's playground. An industrial town teaming with gangsters, corrupt cops, whores, and street urchins. Into this world comes Tom Shelby (back from the war in France) and his clan of marauding thugs with their equally heartless women. The family that kills together sticks together and over the course of three seasons (so far, two more have been announced!) we will witness the scrappy Shelby family rise from street scum to legitimate bourgeoisie. 

The show's exteriors summon images from classic gangster films, and even

more modern fare like Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America. The

long coats, the slo-mo walks to camera evoke more Leone films like Once 

Upon a Time in the West as well as shots from Mr. Tarantino's oeuvre. Yes, 

the violence is equally Tarantino-esque, but who said ole' Quentin ever had

exclusivity on the horror-show? :-D

To state that Tom Shelby and Michael Corleone resemble each other in their quest for respectability would be to understate things. They are alike in more ways than one. Conflicted men driven to preserve and enlarge their families, men disillusioned with the politicians and authority figures running their countries. Men - and women (equally important: the women!) - take their destinies into their own hands because a lifetime of submission had only brought more submission. Power is never relinquished voluntarily and Tom Shelby, more than anyone (except perhaps Vito Corleone and his son Mike!) understands this. 

Thomas Shelby's older brother is played by this truly charismatic actor named

Paul Anderson, who you will no doubt see more of in the future (I hope).

Also suffering from PTSD at a time when it was called "Flanders Blues", 

Anderson's character is conflicted between his increasing faith in Jesus and

his brother's mandates to perform acts of ultra-violence upon the enemies of

the Shelby clan. 

How can I describe Peaky Blinders' style, tone, rhythm, and pacing? Um...I can't. You have to see it for yourself. (It's on Netflix and I'm told Amazon). What I CAN convey are a sampling of images from the series. Oh, and let us now praise Cillian Murphy, Annabelle Wallis, Paul Anderson, Joe Cole, Helen McCrory, Sophie Rundle and Sam Neil, among other thespians, who bring a calculated restraint under which raw emotions fester till they are released, cathartically, by the narrative's beautifully structured plot lines. Every aspect of this series shines; art direction, camera work, lighting, wardrobe, and razor sharp editing choices; each discipline serving the narrative. 

Polly, the matriarch of the Shelby clan. She is Tom's aunt (I think!) and 

when provoked is capable of exhibiting the same degree of violence as the 

boys. Her continued fight to preserve and legitimize the Shelby family's

assets runs against he desire to love and be loved.

Special mention must be made of the film's music, a selection of contemporary tunes (Nick Cave did the opening theme!) set against period drama - makes things very modern while anchoring us in the past. Uncanny. I think I even heard a cut by the great Leonard Cohen in there. Five stars!

Tom Hardy (left) plays a Jewish mobster whose allegiance to the Peaky

Blinders may or may not be for real. The show is notable for its portrayal

of minorities as powerful equals to the Brits. Italians, jews, gypsies, they're

all legitimate contenders for control of England's crime networks, in this

case betting (the horses), rum, prostitution, and arms. Fun stuff!

Steven Knight, the brains behind this unique and incredibly

absorbing and entertaining series. This man writes 

compelling scripts like few in TV-land.

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