Villain (1971)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Michael Tuchner

Writers:

Dick Clement (screenplay) and
Ian La Frenais (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

7 October 1971 (Norway)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Meet Vic Dakin. Then wish you hadn't.

Plot:

Murderous, sadistic London gang leader Vic Dakin, a mother-obsessed homosexual modeled on real-life gangster Ronnie Kray...

Plot Keywords:

Gangster | Homosexual | One Word Title | Independent Film | Based On Novel

Cast

Richard Burton	...	Vic Dakin
Ian McShane	...	Wolfe Lissner
Nigel Davenport	...	Bob Matthews
Donald Sinden	...	Gerald Draycott
Fiona Lewis	...	Venetia
T.P. McKenna	...	Frank Fletcher
Joss Ackland	...	Edgar Lowis
Cathleen Nesbitt	...	Mrs. Dakin
Elizabeth Knight	...	Patti
Colin Welland	...	Tom Binney
Tony Selby	...	Duncan
John Hallam	...	Terry
Del Henney	...	Webb
Ben Howard	...	Henry
James Cossins	...	Brown

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M (TV rating) | Iceland:16 | Australia:R | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1971) | Sweden:15 | USA:R | UK:18 (video rating) (1989) | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

81-100 York Mansions, Prince of Wales Drive, Battersea, London, England, UK

Company:

Anglo-EMI

Trivia:

In the original 1968 novel "The Burden Of Proof" by James Barlow (the inspiration for this film), a prosecuting barrister asks one of the female witnesses in court if she "likes the actor Richard Burton". Burton went on to play the lead role of Vic Dakin in the movie.

Quotes:

Edgar Lowis: He's losing a lot of claret, Vic.

"Stupid punters. Telly all the week, screw the wife Saturday"

I've watched 'Villain' innumerable times since I taped it off a late night Channel 4 screening in 1999. Why? Because it's truly excellent.

Atmosphere, plot, quirky characterisations, violent action, dialogue, squalid sex - brother, it's got the lot. A far, far more interesting film than the same period's 'Get Carter'.

Scripted by venerable British comedy maestros Clement and Le Frenais from an initial novel adaptation by the simian faced American character actor Al Lettieri (and I'm sure there's an interesting story behind that process), 'Villain' is remarkably modern in its tone. We aren't presented with goodies or baddies, simply players of the never-ending game:

Vic Dakin (a darkly humorous Richard Burton) is the good old traditional mother-loving gay psychopath who enjoys slicing up informers with a cut-throat razor;

Wolfie Lissner (a superb Ian McShane, playing probably the most interesting character in the piece) is a survivor who'll do what ever it takes to survive, be it pimping unsuspecting lovelies to the elite, selling pills to late night ravers or taking the brunt of Dakin's sadisitic sexual urges;

Bob Matthews (a wry Nigel Davenport) is the disillusioned copper dedicated purely to bringing Daykin down - "I don't want a fertile imagination, I don't want to know if society's to blame, I just want to catch criminals".

And Gerald Draycott (an eternally eyebrow-cocking, seedily lecherous Donald Sinden) is a charmingly corrupt politician with a weakness for the kind of nubile young girls Wolfie supplies.

The script traces the intertwining fates of these characters after a bungled wages heist with terse, witty precision. Oddball subsidiary figures like Joss Ackland's ulcer-ridden crook (who gobbles pain-relieving hard boiled eggs during a getaway) and James Cossins' bitter, wife-hating clerk garnish the proceedings like tangily flavorous seasoning. The backdrop of grubby and grim seventies Britain is so well sketched that you can almost smell it. Jonathan Hodge's musical score is both percussively minimalist and hauntingly lyrical - very powerful. And its a rare triumph for the otherwise hack-like Michael Tuchner, who directs superlatively here with vigorous assurance.

Look out for stalwarts like Tony Selby, Tim Barlow and an uncredited Johnny Shannon ('Performance's Harry Flowers) as a copper coshing con.

"Got a hard-oh, have ya? DRIVE!!"