Documentary Films - A very British gangster

A very British gangster - 2007

 - Directed by Donal MacIntyre 

A very British gangster 

is an all access film inside one of Britain's most dangerous crime families. For the first time, a gang of contemporary criminals open their lives to reveal a brutal world and an underclass which relies upon gangsters for justice, rather than police. The film follows the trials and tribulations of Dominic Noonan over three years, as he moves from criminal trial to criminal trial.

• It starts with a snippet into one of his criminal activities to keep the audience interested, in this case it was the story about cutting a rival gang members dogs head off and taking into the pub they were in.
• Extreme long shot of Manchester's city scape at night, gives imagery of crime and danger.
• Sound bridge of his voice so we know he is talking and that it is about to cut to his face.
• Dominic Noonan is always situated in the middle of the shot as he is the antagonist of the documentary.
• All three people in the shot are wearing suits, this gives imagery of a Hollywood type gangster like in The Godfather.
• They are walking under a train underpass, typical area for crime and drugs, considered the underbelly of the city.
• Stereotypical black/urban music being played
• Projection of the title onto the train bridge in a large font, could be to show how important Dominic Noonan is considered to be in this area.
• As they walk away it is a low angle shot to give them power and authority over the audience.
• There walk is in slow motion to give it a more dramatised feel.
• It then cuts to a grainy, black and white CCTV stream of them walking, this could show that he is under constant police observation.
• He was previously a door man at a tough club in Manchester so has a rough job and background.
• Cut away to his hands, he is wearing lots of gold jewellery, this is typical for British gangsters trying to show their wealth however it is not very sophisticated.
• He has been in jail 22 out of his 39 years. 
• From the way he speaks about his past it could be said that he is proud of what he has done.
• Despite this he is trying to say he has changed his ways.
• We then see grainy newspaper images in a montage of Dominic with the music from Pulp Fiction in the background.
• It is estimated that between 5 and 6 million pounds has been stolen by the Noonans in their lifetime.
• We then see handheld footage, this gives the documentary a sense of actuality.
• It is at this point that we find out that Dominic was raped as a 13 year old and is homosexual. 
• His brother was killed in a gang related stabbing, we are given overlapping audio from news reports about the murder.