This week’s film is “Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man,” directed by Tom Harper and written by the series creator, Steven Knight. Cillian Murphy reprises the lead as the infamous Tommy Shelby, the leader of a fierce street gang in Birmingham, England.
Inspired by a real gang which dominated the British Midlands for over thirty years around the turn of the 19th century, the fictional Netflix series ran for six very successful seasons and was set following WW1.
The film is set several years after the end of the series at the start of WWII. Nazi intelligence officers seek to use British gang networks to circulate counterfeit banknotes to undermine British and global markets.
Tommy Shelby saw most of his family perish in the final season and retreated to a country estate to deal with his own demons, leaving the running of Peaky Blinders to his estranged son, Duke Shelby. Duke carries on with the gang in a constant state of anger and disenfranchisement from anyone and everything, which the Nazis eagerly exploit.
Tommy is forced to return to Birmingham to salvage what’s left of his family and prevent an unthinkable alliance from impacting Britain’s position in the war.
Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Roth and Barry Keoghan join the cast, building upon a stellar production known for terrific acting, witty dialogue, a brooding soundtrack featuring Nick Cave, and sharply dressed but ruthless gang members. The horrors of civilian casualties depicted in the film’s early war scenes hit a little too close to home, given current events, but the context is historically accurate, reflecting actual incidents suffered by the Birmingham districts in WWII.
Cinematography is the biggest beneficiary of the transition to the big screen. Harper and Knight create immersive period sets and haunting landscapes which propel the script’s emotional depths as it reconciles various Shelby family traumas.
So, on my ski trail rating system, “Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man” earns my highest BLACK DIAMOND ski trail rating. Like a challenging mogul run, these bumps won’t be for everyone. The violence is brutal, physically and emotionally. Cillian Murphy is again outstanding as Tommy Shelby charges back to Birmingham without a plan but orchestrates a satisfying final chapter with the hope “something good will come from this.”
“Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man” has a run-time of one hour and fifty-two minutes and is playing in theaters in a limited release, moving to Netflix on March 20th. The film is rated R for bloody images, language, drug use, nudity, and in-your-face violence by order of the Peaky Blinders.
