Having seen a couple of Guy Ritchie movies (Rock & Rolla, Lock, Stock, & Two Smoking Barrells, and maybe one or two others), I’m curious if his idea of the London criminal underworld is based on a kernel of truth.
Guy Ritchie’s London has very well-armed criminal gangs with their hands in drugs, shady real-estate, government corruption, extortion, gambling, porn, and other interests. These gangs aren’t the street gangs of Los Angeles or Chicago (dis-affected minority youths); they’re much more subtle, have members of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds, and have a sort-of mafia-esque quality to them. Of course, they’re not above torturing and killing each other when need be.
Anyway, is this vision of London’s criminal element based on reality, or is London’s gang problem more like Los Angeles’?
That scenario sounds more like the gangland culture of the 1960’s when the Krays “ruled” north of the Thames and the Richardsons the south. They were into protection rackets, prostitution, drugs and armed robbery. They ruled by fear and extreme violence and woe betide anyone who got in their way.
The Krays had at least two tame senior politicians in their pay, and it’s been reckoned that because of the protection offered by these “establishment” figures they were untouchable for years before they were finally bought to justice.
Based on no knowledge other than what I’ve read in the papers I’d agree with Rayne Man - the London underworld in the Guy Ritchie gangster movies looks back to “the good old days” of the Krays and the Richardsons. Incidently, as well as possibly being in their pay, the two senior politicians were implicated in a gay sex scene with Ronnie Kray.
These days we seem to have a mix of Russian mafia and Jamacian drug gangs with Chinese triads thown in for spice. No doubt we still have our own home grown groups but you don’t seem to hear of them so much.
I’m not sure it is an either/or between street gangs and organised crime - both continue to exist in their own spheres. Surely this is the same across the US?
Last night I finally got round to watching the Channel 4 documentary “The Gangster and the Pervert Peer” which tells the story of the Krays and the political cover-up which allowed them to become so strong and virtually untouchable:-