"There's been a lot of films that have had an influence on me," says director Mark O'Connor by way of understatement as he sees his latest, Amongst the Wolves, arrive in cinemas.
Watch: The trailer for Amongst the Wolves.
The Dubliner joins RTÉ Entertainment via Zoom to pick the crime movies that have shaped his work but that he feels have been overlooked by a new generation - or are still stuck on the to-see lists of older viewers.
"Bicycle Thieves was a huge film, but that's a different genre," the Cardboard Gangsters director continues as he lists off his influences. "The French New Wave, Italian Neorealism, and the British cinema of Alan Clarke, Ken Loach's films. Films like Saturday Night and Sunday Morning - massive influence, love that film. So believable, so realistic. And then, of course, Shane Meadows's movies in the UK like This Is England and A Room for Romeo Brass."
But with time tight (and a gun to his head), O'Connor picks these films from the crime genre:
City of God (Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund, 2002)
"You need more than guts to be a good gangster. You need ideas."
The slums of Rio de Janeiro are the setting for this quadruple-Oscar-nominated tour de force. And when you get your breath back, there's a spin-off series and film - both called City of Men.
Mark O'Connor: When City of God came out, it had a big impact on me. The way it was directed, the way it was shot, the pacing. It was very fast and energetic, and I loved that. It was so real, like, so believable. I know they cast kids from the favelas for that, some of them were involved in different stuff. That film definitely had an influence on me as a filmmaker.
The Long Good Friday (John Mackenzie, 1980)
"It's my manor!"
Bob Hoskins's big-screen breakout gave the crime genre one of its most iconic characters in Harold Shand, the London mobster whose empire comes crashing down over an Easter weekend. Helen Mirren is superb as Shand's other half, Victoria, and a young Pierce Brosnan makes his movie debut. Forty-five years on, The Long Good Friday's ending still ranks with cinema's best.
Mark O'Connor: I think it's overlooked! Bob Hoskins's performance is amazing. It's so powerful, and it's just a real old-school crime film, like, classy crime film. It feels dated but in a good way. There's a big Irish connection in it with Pierce Brosnan at the end. And it's a great shot at the end, that last shot... The camera picks up so much, I've come to realise that over the years. The smallest details really, really matter.
Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese, 1973)
"You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets."
The film that announced Martin Scorsese to the wider world was also a portent of what was to come from Robert De Niro - burning up the screen here as loose(est) cannon John 'Johnny Boy' Civello. Harvey Keitel plays Charlie Cappa, the mob protégé torn between the demands of his boss Uncle Giovanni (Cesare Danova), his feelings for his epileptic girlfriend Teresa (Amy Robinson), and his bond with childhood pal Johnny Boy.
Mark O'Connor: I don't think that many people have seen it. Obviously, cinephiles and film people would have seen it, but that would be a definite one [that deserves a wider audience]. It's the mafia on the street level and just so Italian. I actually think it's probably Scorsese's most authentic film. Goodfellas is incredible, but I just think with Mean Streets there's an element of truth there that's just entwined in it. You can't replicate that unless you've lived in Little Italy. An unbelievable performance from De Niro. He's so wild and just raw - and unhinged!
White Heat (Raoul Walsh, 1949)
"Made it, Ma! Top of the world!"
White Heat marked James Cagney's return to Warner Bros after going out on his own - and he was back with a bang! Shamefully overlooked for an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, Cagney's performance as mammy-obsessed psychotic gangster Arthur 'Cody' Jarrett has influenced countless others in the decades since. Need another reason? Well, White Heat also has two of the best scenes in cinema history.
Mark O'Connor: I was a big fan of the black-and-white gangster films. I used to have loads of VHS tapes and I had all those films. But if I was to choose one, you'd have to say White Heat. It's brilliant - Cody's relationship with his mother and everything. And that ending... Imagine if that was nowadays with the proper colour and sound?! James Cagney was an amazing actor. Humphrey Bogart was an amazing actor in his own way as well. He was such a smart and intelligent actor, but Cagney was the raw kind.
La Haine (Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995)
"How you fall doesn't matter, it's how you land."
The landmark French movie that saw writer-director Mathieu Kassovitz win Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival also set a new standard in urban storytelling. La Haine (Hatred) follows pals Vinz (Vincent Cassel), Hubert (Hubert Koundé), and Saïd (Saïd Taghmaoui) over a day and night as the hand of fate guides them to an unforgettable conclusion.
Mark O'Connor: It's quite well known, but then again, it's not well known! It's 30 years ago and a lot of people nowadays wouldn't know it. Again, any film person's going to know it. That had a big influence on me. It was the performances - Vincent Cassel, it was him. I just thought he was amazing in that. He was kind of like a cardboard gangster in a way. I know myself and John Connors, that was a big influence on us when we talked about Cardboard Gangsters. I think the cinematography is really good in it. It's a very structured film in terms of the framing. It's not like Mean Streets, which is just kind of wild and loose and handheld. There are some amazing shots in there - the trumpet shot where they're standing on the balcony where you track in and you zoom out. The music as well, the whole hip-hop thing, was brilliant. And then the riots as a backdrop - love that. I love when you have a backdrop to a movie, something else going on in the background.
Dead Presidents (The Hughes Brothers, 1995)
"Well, that's Uncle Sam for you, baby. Money to burn."
After their blistering debut Menace II Society, brothers Albert and Allen Hughes aimed for the epic with their next film. It's the story of Anthony Curtis (Menace II Society star Larenz Tate) who leaves Brooklyn for a tour of duty in Vietnam and then sees all the dominoes fall when he comes home. A great supporting cast includes Keith David, Chris Tucker, N'Bushe Wright, and future Sopranos stars Michael Imperioli and Tony Sirico.
Mark O'Connor: Menace II Society is a brilliant film, but Dead Presidents is amazing. That's one that people need to see and I think that's probably a better film than Menace II Society. The soundtrack is amazing; it's got this soul vibe and funky grooves from the Seventies. Menace II Society was so raw and I think it sparked a lot of the other ones (movies), but I prefer probably Dead Presidents, just for the authenticity in some way.
Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984)
"I like the stink of the streets. It makes me feel good."
Sergio Leone's final film is also the last part of his Once Upon a Time Trilogy, after Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and Duck, You Sucker! (1971). Based on the Harry Grey novel The Hoods, it charts decades of US history through the lives of David 'Noodles' Aaronson (Robert De Niro) and Maximilian 'Max' Bercovicz (James Woods) - corner boys who become kingpins. Leone's original version was 269 minutes long. A 229-minute version was shown at Cannes in 1984 with a restored 251-minute version screening at the festival in 2012. Because of rights issues, the wait for the original 269-minute version continues to this day. Whatever you do, make sure you don't watch the hacked 139-minute version that was released in the US in 1984.
Mark O'Connor: It's pretty well known, but I don't think that many people think of it [compared to The Godfather]. Once Upon a Time in America is so epic and so nostalgic as well, there's something so incredibly powerful [about that]. It's about time and it's really sad. You're seeing De Niro's character's life flash before his eyes. He looks back on when he was a kid and now it's all gone - he's a very old man. There's something about time with me as well, it's just so tragic in some way. I find it hard to look at old photographs of my kids because I just get so nostalgic and sad. Looking back at my own films? Ah, I don't care about them!
As he signs out of one Zoom interview to go to another, O'Connor says of Amongst the Wolves: "We made it for 16 grand and we're getting a release all around Ireland. It's going to be opening in the cinemas in America as well. It's so amazing for the cast and crew. Our producer, Jeff O'Toole, put the 16 grand in. [I was] Pulling in massive favours, cast and crew that were just so, so giving of their time. We wrote it in six months, shot it in 15 days, post-production two months. We had it done in less than a year. Sometimes you can literally spend three years on developing a script and it gets very, very frustrating where you're trying to find finance. We just said, 'Let's go and do this!'"
Amongst the Wolves is in cinemas nationwide now.
