My Favourite Movies: Get Carter

Jack Carter (played with astonishing belief by Michael Caine) is a man on a mission. He's returning to his roots in the north of England to find out what happened to his brother who died under mysterious circumstances. Of course Jack is no ordinary citizen - he's a hard man, an enforcer for a top London mob so he has connections and the will to get things done. Within hours of arriving in Newcastle he's already ruffling feathers and has been offered very generous terms to return back home. It seems as if Jack is the only person who doesn't know how his brother died and quickly starts to realize that most people he meets are either indifferent or actively hostile to his quest. When he finally stumbles on the reason for his brothers death Carter begins to take his revenge on anyone associated with the murder and anyone who stood idly by who could have prevented it, and Jack is not a man who can be easily stopped before everyone pays the price no matter the cost.

Caine is great in this movie. He plays the hard man extremely well showing little emotion - except possibly anger - and certainly no fear as he takes on the combined forces of several northern gangs who want to stop him digging up things that they had hoped to stay buried. He's relentless and unforgiving as he uncovers the dark and dirty underbelly of 1970's Newcastle as it drags itself up from its industrial roots exemplified by the old Victorian back-to-back housing and tenement blocks to its modernist future of the multi-story car park and soulless windswept tower blocks. It is very much an excellent example of British Neo-Noir complete with the classic homecoming theme, seedy bars and nightclubs, the hopelessness of the downtrodden working class, the corrupting influence of drugs and illicit sex and the casual violence seen as part of 'doing business'. Hardly a police car is seen except rushing towards another death that Caine leaves in his wake. Justice, what little there is of it, normally comes from the bullet rather than the law court. It is all rather dark and unforgiving especially as it was made in 1971 before the hopes of the 60's had collapsed into the cynicism and political unrest of the 70's and 80's. There is no hope here and that's what makes it so devilishly Noir.

I've probably seen this at least 5-6 times so far (and probably more like 10 times thinking about it) and I still enjoy it a great deal. If you're a Noir fan, and I know some of my readers are, you should certainly check this out.