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Strangers in the area (2011) / Attack the Block

This must happen: unfriendly aliens have landed in a residential area of ​​London. And they never guessed the place of the invasion: if the tired representatives of the working class fit only for food, then the motley British punks gave the “strangers” a deadly cold reception.

“Strangers in the neighborhood” are quietly trying to pass for the illegitimate child of Edgar Wright, even though the same Nira Park and James Wilson produced the movie, which also produced Shaun of the Dead, and Nick Frost from the mentioned zombie comedy appeared in a small role. "Alien..." slightly lacks the glitz and lightness that Wright had, but the picture holds the viewer firmly enough with a fun concept (a London redneck is rarely seen as Helen Ripley) and varying degrees of bad gags. It turns out a peppy cross-genre attraction that brightens up unnecessarily dark colors weekday evening and makes you look at the anti-social elements of your own neighborhood from a different angle.

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

Ethan Bishop is incredibly lucky! On his first day as a police officer, he is assigned to a closing station. In addition to him, there are two and a half policemen, a secretary and convicts awaiting transportation to the death row. Almost all the furniture was taken out, the phones were turned off: the only business was to poison stories. But it was on this day that the local gang of scumbags decided to take revenge for the death of the homies. And very soon, Bishop has to not only fight back in a besieged building without the ability to call for help, but also team up with suicide bombers.

Inspired by Howard Hawks' classic Rio Bravo and Grandpa Romero's equally classic Night of the Living Dead, the urban western solidified the foundation of young John Carpenter's success that Dark Star had previously laid. Already here, the signature style of the cult director and his filigree work with imagery are clearly visible. Carpenter deliberately dehumanized the members of the gang, so that they look more like zombies or monsters crawling from all the cracks than street punks. In combination with suspense, intimacy of the production and Carpenter's signature soundtrack, this presentation gives you goosebumps. And the scene at the ice cream truck is a masterpiece in itself; in order to convey it to the viewer, John had to deceive the rating commission: it is difficult to reach a compromise in matters of art.

Carnival of dishonor (2006) / Biyeolhan geori

Pyong-Doo is the leader of a small group that is in the wings of more serious gangsters. He even thinks about quitting the gang business. But fate decides differently: Byeong-Doo wins respect big boss and begins to rise in the criminal hierarchy. Unfortunately, the age of the kondal (this is how members of the organized crime group are called in the Land of Morning Calm) is short-lived, and the walls around the protagonist begin to narrow, and the ground burns under their feet.

No matter what Yoo Ha shoots - a thriller or an epic - drama always comes to the fore. Carnival of Disgrace is no exception. You expect “Bitterness and Sweetness” from the film, but it constantly exposes either the dualism of the characters, or the fragmentary feeling of the impossibility of changing the situation, or social overtones. Fierce fights and blood gushing from wounds are also in place. Koreans shoot a lot and willingly about their condals, and, unfortunately, almost all the pictures are of the highest standard. But even among powerful brothers, the "Carnival of Infamy" stands out quite distinctly. A monumental and tough movie for those who don't mind being made to frown.

Warriors (1979) / The Warriors

The gang with the laconic name "Warriors" is going to a meeting of all-all groups in New York, which was organized by the authority of Cyrus, which enjoys universal respect. He plans to unite all the gangs into a single army and show the Big Apple who is really in power here. But, like any leader, Cyrus also has enemies and intriguers: during the gathering they feed authority with lead, and in the general turmoil, all the blame is placed on the Warriors. Now they need to get to their native Coney Island at all costs, making their way through the whole city with their fists and blood, while every criminal in New York considers it his duty to send the Warriors to the next world.

The ageless masterpiece of Walter Hill is unlikely to impress the viewer with the staging of fights: the film could not cope with this even in 1979, when Warriors was scolded for “ballet fights”. But in terms of romanticizing street gangs and conveying the atmosphere, few can compare with Hill. For an hour and a half, Coney Island becomes their home, and the titular gang becomes their guys on the board. Even Michael Beck, usually wooden, here acquires the features of a bastion and embodied leadership. What Sabatini once did with pirates, Walter Hill does with gangs, and it's okay if you missed this film as a teenager: Warriors is filmed in such a way that it's very hard not to fall in love with them even now.

A Clockwork Orange (1971) / A Clockwork Orange

There is no more famous gang on earth than the gang of Alex De Large, who literally subjugated popular culture. Anthony Burgess's novel is worthy of admiringly hysterical epithets in itself, but Kubrick brought this cult to an incredible level (although the writer himself was not enthusiastic about the changes in his story). Appearance Alexa and company, Korova bar, milk-plus, Ludwig van Beethoven's imperishables, synthetic language (an overdrive), life in the style of the good old ultra-violence, the scene under "Singing in the Rain", a killer soundtrack, Kubrick's sophisticated direction, Malcolm McDowell's bottomless charisma - a whole an alternate universe of brutality and style.

This film has been referenced by Quentin Tarantino, Wes Craven, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Lloyd Kaufmann, Sergio Leone, John Landis and Danny Boyle (the list is by no means exhaustive); Die Toten Hosen and Sepultura dedicated the painting to concept album, and The Exploited on the album Beat The Bastards samples many of the songs from the Kubrick tape; the director had to fish the picture out of the box because of death threats; finally, it is the only X-rated film to have been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Picture category.

Here is the alignment, you filthy old soomka!

Yellow Sea (2010) / Hwanghae

Welcome to Yanbian (aka Yongbyon) - a Chinese administrative unit, on the territory of which live mainly ethnic Koreans who fled to the Celestial Empire after the Japanese invasion of South Korea. In this specific place, the history of the joseonjok (the so-called Chinese Koreans, who, unlike their American or Japanese counterparts, are not much loved in their historical homeland) begins, Kim Gu-Nam. He lives with his mother and daughter, moonlights as a taxi driver, drinks soju (you can't do without soju in Korea!), plays mahjong, gets into debt... And he is waiting for news from his wife, who went to Seoul to work, but has recently stopped sending pay. It was here that Gu-Nam received an offer from local gangsters: hit the road to the Korean capital, hit whoever needed - and back. So the debt will be written off, and money will be thrown from above, and you can try to find a negligent wife. Our anti-hero agrees, but his little crime trip turns into a real bloodbath.

Hong-Jin has not made many films yet, but each unit in his filmography counts as three. The most versatile turned out to be "The Yellow Sea": the movie begins as social drama, continues as a suspense thriller, and then abruptly mutates into an uncompromisingly violent action movie. What is especially pleasant, the characters are all lumpen and criminals (not at all noble), and no one receives undivided sympathy, but at the same time, it is impossible not to empathize at all. And in terms of gang warfare, The Yellow Sea will give odds to most films by Western directors: signature Korean hypernaturalism, mass shootings and fights (beating opponents with a huge beef bone stands out in particular), dynamic chases and, of course, a generous portion of fatty dramatic sauce.

City of God (2002) / Cidade de Deus

The director duo Meirelles / Lund approached the filming of a film about real Brazilian gangs with all responsibility. Cast members for the most part consisted of people from the favelas, and filmed in real criminal areas. However, the City of God itself was bypassed - too "hot", and there were already enough impressions: Meirelles later admitted that if he had known in advance what it was like to shoot a film in the favelas of Rio, he would have disowned the project in six seconds.

But the audience does not regret anything: the "City of God" has become not just good movie about another criminalized point on the globe, but one of the most notable films of the 21st century. The rating on film bases tends to infinity, not a single top of the “most-most films” is complete without Cidade De Deus, a whole heap of awards (although it was not possible to take an Oscar and a Globe) - the film left a very noticeable imprint.

It's all about the harmonious interweaving of elements. “City of God” is one of those paintings that are not only pointless, but certainly irrational, to disassemble into components. But all together - directing, authenticity, drama, lighting historical events, bright and ominous reflections of images - makes it something more than just social significant history recreated on camera.

Skins (1992) / Romper Stomper

The crime drama by Jeffrey Wright became the most famous Australian picture with Russell Crowe, then still very young and not status. The film tells about Melbourne skinheads who are seriously fighting against the Asians. But this is background; quickly comes to the fore love triangle between Hando, the leader of a neo-Nazi group, his right-hand man Davy, and the company's new girlfriend Gabrielle. As often happens in such situations, external events cling to internal experiences, and such a cocktail does not lead to anything good.

Skins look especially ironic in Australia, a country where the concept of “come in large numbers” is absent in principle, since almost every modern Ossie, at least in the third generation, has a relative who immigrated to Kangaroo Country. However, Wright prefers not to dig too deep into this topic. What he is really interested in is the human motivators that change the individual's behavior to a completely uncharacteristic one. As well as the reasons why people unite in groups. After all, by and large, not all the characters in "Skins" are ideological Nazis and fans of the Third Reich. It's nice, however, that Wright does not forget about genre elements either, so Romper Stomper can equally influence thriller fans, drama lovers, and viewers who accidentally join in watching.

Gangs of New York (2002) / Gangs of New York

Martin Scorsese's large-scale painting depicts a long battle between two irreconcilable gangs: "Native Americans" led by "The Butcher" Cutting against a young Amsterdam Wellon. The film is replete with bloody fights (too violent according to some critics), historical references and archetypes. Daniel Day-Lewis, as always, played beyond praise, but with Cameron Diaz it turned out funny: it turns out that to make an Irish girl out of a girl, it is enough to dye her hair red.

Gangs of New York received as many as 10 Oscar nominations, but did not win a single one. In this, the film academics showed consistency: how many times the master was nominated for a golden statuette, but they were in no hurry to write down the laureates. But nothing: in five years, the eminent director will take his own, and at that time I had to be content with the Golden Globe.

Boys from the street (1991) / Boyz n the Hood

In the early 90s, the situation in the lush areas of Los Angeles became so tense that it resulted in a full-scale riot. Subsequently, this theme was played up in cinema, and in music, and even in video games. The crisis, unemployment and the general criminalization of African-American neighborhoods became key for several films at once, released shortly before the Los Angeles riot. The most famous of them is "Guys from the street".

This tragic story the Styles brothers and their friend Tre, who are trying to find their way in South Central, one of the most problematic areas of the City of Angels, where street gangs control everything and drugs flow like a river. Over time, it became clear that this topic does not think to lose its relevance: 14 years later, Damien Marley sang about the same things in Welcome To Jamrock, and recent events in the USA again make us talk about crime, police brutality and racism.

Be that as it may, John Singleton managed to reach out to the audience: the film for 6.5 million dollars grossed 57 and a half, and the name of the director was included in the list of possible contenders for the Oscar (and this is 23 years old). The "Guys from the Street" did not receive the award, but over time the picture was officially recognized cultural value. And with each passing year, Singleton moved more and more to more neutral action films like Shaft and 2 Fast 2 Furious, until he finally made the completely toothless Chase with Taylor Lautner. Now the director makes a living mainly by serials.

Fashion for genres comes and goes, but gangster films are always popular. They began in the era of black and white cinema, they tell us about parallel worlds where codes of honor, weapons, money, violence and power struggles reign. Their characters always attract attention with the moral choices that are completely unimaginable to an ordinary person, which they have to make.

Titr made a selection of movies about gangsters: some classics and recent good, original films. We didn't take into it" Godfathers», « Reservoir Dogs" And " Goodfellas because you definitely know about them without us.

Hypnotic painting by Brian De Palma with Al Pacino and Sean Penn. 70s. Major drug dealer Carlito Brigante served five years and was released from prison. He wants to break with the past, start an honest life and live with the woman he loves. Criminal past and request close friend pulling Carlito back.

A rich and emotional picture about the Clay twins, London gangsters of the sixties. The brothers led the most powerful gang in the East End. Their track record includes armed robberies, racketeering, arson, assassination attempts and murders. Both brothers were played by Tom Hardy and these are perhaps his best roles.

History is rich in such cases that it is not necessary to invent anything, there will be enough plots for cinema for many more years to come. Irish-American gangster Danny Green was proud, fierce, ambitious and principled, which made him the main figure in the 70s mafia war in Cleveland. A war that forever changed the structure of organized crime in America.

Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and Chiwetel Ejiofor, directed by Ridley Scott, tell the true story of Frank Lucas, a quiet Harlem crime boss who decides to create his own crime empire. His specialty is heroin, which he imports directly from South-East Asia, and in his footsteps already underway Richie Roberts is a rare New York example of an honest cop hated by his colleagues. Prototypes of the main characters advised the director during filming.

Viggo Mortensen as the Russian brutal and unscrupulous killer Nikolai. The plot of the film will take us to the London lair of the Russian mafia and it will be very energetically saturated and without the "spreading cranberries". The director managed to convey the world of prison laws, and Mortensen, in order to better prepare for his role, traveled around Russia and visited small towns in the Urals.

South Korean drama about yakuza, customs and smuggling. About a small man with a huge ego, who began to make his way only because of a big name and suddenly appeared connections.

John Wick - a common person heartbroken after the death of his wife. And a ruthless killing machine. John Wick is a noir thriller about the mafia and revenge that harmoniously combines drama and action.

Classic drama about the famous American robbers of the thirties. They were young, in love, successful and romantic. During the existence of their gang, they robbed about twenty banks, without counting cafes and hairdressers, killed at least 9 policemen. When their story ended, they were 25 and 23, and Bonnie's ex-husband said, "I'm glad they had so much fun. It's much better than getting caught."

Perhaps this is the most unusual film of the genre. Quentin Tarantino said that the gangster movie is a kind of parody of the American dream. Therefore, his characters behave like ordinary helmets, on the way to the murder they talk about hamburgers and foot massages. And the whole act of the picture is devoted to the problem of cleaning the car from scraps of brains.

£100,000 a year was brought to the owners by the prestigious London club Esmeraldas Barn. Its owners, the twins Reginald and Ronald Cray, got the establishment for free, as they were the most dangerous bandits in the British capital. And by the way, the income from the club was only a small part of their income. The Kray brothers, one of whom was a clever businessman, and the other a complete psychopath, were able to achieve wealth and fame by the age of 30 due to the fact that all worries and joys were shared brotherly. Ultimately, this is what killed them.

KIRILL NOVIKOV

Boxer grandchildren

Charlie Cray, a scrap gold merchant, had three sons. The eldest, also Charlie, as usual, grew up smart, serious and hardworking. He became more or less an honest businessman and broke the law with such care that the police hardly bothered him. Two other sons were born on October 24, 1933, ten minutes apart. The twins Reggie and Ronnie became notorious bandits and eventually subjugated the criminal world of London. However, the reign of the Kray brothers turned out to be short-lived, for which they could only blame themselves. Both their rise and fall were due to the twins characteristic features fraternal crime.

Probably, every nation has legends about robber brothers who terrified honest workers. Judging by these legends, the gangs, which are the backbone of the brothers, are extremely daring, but sometimes this daring turns into rash bravado or unreasonable cruelty. First fraternal criminal gangs, who became famous in the United States, differed in both. During the years of the War of Independence, high road operated by two teams, consisting of blood relatives. There were six people in the Doane gang - the brothers Moses, Aaron, Levi, Malon and Joseph, as well as their cousin Abraham. The Doans were Quakers and supporters of British rule, so that the outbreak of war against the royal regime gave them a free hand against the rebellious colonists. The brothers spied for the British, but at the same time did not forget about their own benefit. For example, in 1781 they robbed the treasury of the city of Newtown - they took £ 1.3 thousand, which was a very large amount. In 1783, Moses Doan was killed, and a few years later, Levi and Abraham were on the gallows. The rest of the Doans fled to Canada, leaving behind many legends about robbery dashing and thieves' luck.

The relatively small successes of the Kray brothers in the professional ring helped them start a big criminal life without any problems.

The fate of the Harp brothers was different, although they also started by offering their services to the English army. However, unlike the pious Doans, Micage and Wheely Harp were half-mad sadists who killed for pleasure. It is believed that the brothers killed about 40 men, women and children. They usually gutted the corpses and threw them into the river, after stuffing them with stones so that they would not float up. There is evidence that Mikaja once smashed the head of a little girl just because she cried too loudly. In 1799, a bounty hunter hunted down and killed Mikazhu Harp, and in 1804 he younger brother Wheelie fell into the hands of justice and was hanged.

The combination of extraordinary audacity and unjustified cruelty can be explained from a psychological point of view. When brothers grow up together, relationships with each other become the main thing for them, the whole world is divided into their own - relatives, who can be trusted without limit, and strangers, in relation to whom everything is allowed. In a fraternal gang, its members are attached to each other much more strongly than in a normal one. And if one of the brothers is excessively prone to violence or behaves inappropriately, which jeopardizes the whole thing, he cannot simply be taken and kicked out. You have to adapt to such a person, which sometimes leads to disastrous consequences for the gang. All of this proved to be true of the Kray brothers.

Reggie and Ronnie were born in London's East End. This part of London was the poorest and had a bad reputation for high crime rates. The East End was a hub of immigrants from all over the world, as well as the so-called Cockneys - these representatives of the lower classes of London spoke with a special accent and used jargon, so that the rest of the United Kingdom did not always understand them. In the veins of the Kray brothers, the blood of Irish, Jewish and even Gypsy ancestors mixed up, but they themselves were typical cockneys, ideally suited for survival in criminal areas. big city. As a child, they had someone to look up to: both of their grandfathers earned street authority with their fists. His paternal grandfather was nicknamed Crazy Jimmy Cray for his passion for drinking and tavern fights. Maternal grandfather was nicknamed Jimmy Lee Cannonball. Once he tried himself in boxing and achieved good results, but then he changed his occupation - he began to show all kinds of tricks in pubs: licking a red-hot poker, balancing on the necks of bottles, tap dancing, etc. It was Jimmy Lee who taught Ronnie and Reggie to fight which has come in handy many times in their lives.

Once in the guardhouse, Reggie and Ronnie became the last prisoners of the Tower, and when they were released, they became the first gangsters of London

Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images/Fotobank

The father of the brothers, Charlie Sr., traveled around the country trading in scrap gold and old clothes, so that the upbringing of the twins was mainly done by women - their mother Violet, as well as Aunt Rose. During the war years, Charlie Sr. completely disappeared from the family’s field of vision for a long time, because he evaded conscription into the army and was hiding somewhere all this time. Mother and Aunt Rosa believed that their boys could not do anything bad, and gave them the opportunity to do whatever they wanted. Ron and Reggie mostly wanted to fight. The twins constantly beat the neighbors' children and each other, but their relatives did not see anything wrong with this.

At school, the twins became addicted to boxing. Once they met in a fight at a fair, and later they began to participate in street fights, which made it possible to earn some money. Subsequently, Ronnie and Reggie had six professional fights each, with Ron winning four and Reggie never losing. Brother Charlie, who was six years older than the twins, recalled their fighting style: “As boxers they were very different from each other. Reggie was cool, careful, very technical and, most importantly, always listened to advice. Ronnie was his opposite He just kept pushing forward until they stopped him." The difference in boxing style meant a difference in character. Reggie was serious and reasonable, and Ronnie was aggressive and reckless, but at the same time he had a strong charisma.

In 1952, the twins were drafted into the army for two years and assigned to serve in a regiment stationed in the Tower of London. It would seem that the army was supposed to turn street brats into disciplined members of society. However, the opposite happened with the Kray brothers.

True Cockneys

Ron and Reggie couldn't bear the discipline of the barracks and most services were carried out either AWOL or under arrest. Once they beat a sergeant who drilled them, another time a policeman who tried to detain them during AWOL. When the patience of the command snapped, the brothers were sent to a military prison for nine months, but their imprisonment did not fix them at all. The twins made a uniform chaos behind bars. They took away the handcuffs from one of the guards and chained him to the bars, and overturned the vat of boiling water on the other. Such forms of prison disobedience, as burning mattresses in a cell, became completely business as usual. All this allowed the Krays to earn prestige among the prisoners, many of whom were connected with the criminal world of London. At this time, the twins seem to have finally decided on their future career - now it could only be criminal.

The Kray brothers were expelled from the regiment in disgrace, which they, in fact, sought. After being released from prison, they borrowed money from their older brother and opened a small billiards club in their native East End. The club was not quite ordinary: for the most part, hooligans and petty criminals gathered in it, some of whom the Krays met in prison. Fights regularly broke out in the institution, which gave the brothers the opportunity to wave their fists once again. Reggie even came up with a special way to get rid of unwanted guests. He approached the man and offered a cigarette. At the moment when the visitor put a cigarette in his mouth, Reggie landed a powerful left hook and almost always broke the person's jaw, since it is much more vulnerable when the mouth is open.

The billiard club quickly turned into a real hangout. The twins bought stolen goods, and also "roofed" the shops on the surrounding streets. Soon their interests intersected with the interests of another fraternal group, which consisted of three dockworker brothers. The competitors challenged the Krays to a showdown and were beaten to a pulp. Soon the twins imposed tribute even on local thieves and cheaters. Those who showed disobedience were expected to get acquainted with the fists of the boxing brothers.

Soon a large gang began to form around the brothers, which they began to call "The Firm". It included the twins' cousin Ronnie Hart and 14 others. Charlie's older brother also occasionally collaborated with The Firm, but usually kept to himself. In addition, a whole army of street boys worked for Firma, who served as informers and spotters. Ronnie Cray worked with them, and not only in connection with a business need. Ron generally liked young men, although for the time being he carefully concealed this. Even after many years, while in prison, Ronnie was very offended when he was called a homosexual, and declared: "I'm not gay, I'm bisexual!"

The Firm's brain was Reggie, but the true leader was, of course, Ronnie, who earned the nickname Colonel for authoritarian style guides. If Reggie remained prudent and sane, then Ronnie's behavior became more and more unpredictable, which was facilitated by his passion for alcohol and drugs. Ron dressed like a movie gangster, collected weapons, adored paraphernalia beautiful life and did not tolerate objections at all. Once, having quarreled with the visitors of a pub, he took out a pistol and opened fire, although, fortunately, he did not hit anyone. Ron's mental state increasingly worried his brother. Ronnie Kray was becoming more irritable, gloomy and suspicious day by day. He was sure that the special services were tapping his phone, he was constantly afraid of surveillance and betrayal.

In the autumn of 1956, a car dealer who paid tribute to the twins sold the car to a South London dock worker. A few days later, the buyer returned the car due to a malfunction and demanded money back, but the seller refused to pay. The buyer left, but before that he promised to return with his friends, so the merchant saw fit to call his "roof". Ron showed up for the meeting. The docker never brought the promised friends with him, but Ronnie Cray was so worked up that he shot the unfortunate man in the leg. The victim told the police, and Ronnie probably would have gone to the bunk if not for his twin brother.

As long as cocktails were well mixed in trendy clubs, their visitors didn’t care at all how many murders the owners of the establishments were involved in.

Photo: Premium Archive/ Getty Images/ Fotobank

Reggie showed up for the identification procedure instead of Ronnie. The docker immediately identified his offender, but Reggie had an ironclad alibi, and the case was closed. After this incident, Reggie gave his brother a scolding - he shouted that Ron was completely crazy and one day he would bring them to the gallows, but he was unable to correct his brother. Meanwhile, this story added weight to the twins in the criminal world. By the end of 1956, Firma controlled an area of ​​22 square meters. km, levied tribute from underground casinos, thieves' dens, pubs and shops. They were now considered the most dangerous gang in London, which was not far from the truth. The twins became so confident in their power that they opened a club in the fashionable West End - quite unusual for East End bandits.

In November 1956, the police got even with Ron for his identification trick. The twins were arrested for beating another criminal rival, but Reggie was acquitted and Ronnie was jailed for three years. At first things went pretty well for him. In a London prison, "sixes" were twining around him, so that the Colonel felt like a real king. But soon he was transferred to a prison on the Isle of Wight, where the influence of the twins did not extend, and Ron began to hard times. His mental state deteriorated sharply. Ronnie was sure that they wanted to kill him, and seemed to be suicidal. Specialists examined him and found him to have prison psychosis. Under such a diagnosis, any mental illness could be hidden, and soon the diagnosis had to be clarified. At the end of 1957, Aunt Rose, so beloved by the twins, died, after which Ronnie Kray finally went mad and began to rush at people. As a result, he was transferred to the Long Grove Psychiatric Hospital for compulsory treatment. Doctors found in Ronnie all the signs of paranoid schizophrenia, including delusions of grandeur, delusions of persecution and identification with a historical figure - Ronnie Kray considered himself the embodiment of Attila.

Keeper to his brother

Frank Sinatra happily sang for the Kray brothers, as they remained silent to the police about contacts with him.

Photo: Popperfoto/Getty Images/Fotobank

Meanwhile, the Kray business flourished. Having got rid of the crazy Ronnie, Reggie Cray was finally able to do business properly, in which his older brother Charlie willingly helped him. Reggie opened a club called "Double R", which earned a reputation as the best drinking establishment in the East End. Soon he organized another club - with an underground sweepstakes, despite the fact that there was a police station across the street. However, Reggie could not leave his brother in trouble, although he was more trouble than good. In addition, from within the walls of Long Grove, disturbing reports of Ron's suicidal tendencies came.

Since Long Grove was a hospital and not a prison, the rules there were much milder than in a reformatory. On Sundays, relatives could visit the sick and chat with them over a cup of tea in a room where there was no guard. Once Reggie came on a date with his brother along with a friend named Osborne. The clinic staff weren't at all alarmed that Reggie and Ronnie were dressed alike and looked like mirror images of each other. Soon Reggie left the hospital - was freely released through the gate, and Osborne remained with Ronnie. When the time of the date came to an end, it turned out that it was not Ronnie who remained in the hospital, but Reggie, while his deranged twin disappeared without a trace.

Osborne and Reggie were immediately arrested, but it proved impossible to prove their guilt. After all, they didn’t do anything wrong - they just sat and waited for Ronnie to bring them tea, since the patients were allowed to go to the kitchen. Ronnie never brought tea, but Reggie is not his brother's keeper, he is not obliged to watch him.

However, Ronnie did not stay free for long. Reggie hid it at his friend's country house, but even there Ron distinguished himself by threatening a neighbor farmer. Reggie gave his brother an anonymous visit to a famous psychiatrist, after which the doctor called him and said: “I don’t know who you bring him to, but sooner or later he will kill someone. He has symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. Take him to the hospital before it’s too late ". Meanwhile, Ronnie drank two bottles of gin a day, swallowed sedatives, sank deeper into depression, and finally tried to commit suicide. This time, Reggie's patience snapped, and he turned his brother in to the police. Ronnie returned to serve out his term without receiving any punishment for his escape. In the end, he was just mentally ill, and the British Themis treated the insane with a certain gentleness.

Finally, Ronnie was released and immediately undertook to ruin what Reggie had built in the three years of his absence. Ron threw his fists at business partners, constantly got into some kind of brawl. In addition, he disliked his brother's fiancee, whose name was Francis Shea. The girl was from a good family, had no dealings with the underworld, and Reggie was crazy about her. "Bisexual" Ronnie hated women in general and France in particular. But he took countless young men to him - whites, blacks, Chinese, Indians, etc. Ronnie had an excuse: he did not want to be alone at night, because he was terribly afraid of the dark.

And yet the brothers managed to bring the business to new level. They put pressure on a major property owner, Peter Rachman, who was known for buying up houses in the slums, evicting honest but poor workers from there, and setting up brothels and drug dens in the vacated areas. Rachman considered it good to give the twins the Esmeraldas Barn club, located in a prestigious area of ​​the city: the institution brought about £ 100 thousand in annual income. It can be said that Ron's madness played into the hands of the brothers, since Rachman simply did not want to mess with psychopaths.

Having become the owners of this club, the Kray brothers turned into respectable businessmen who rotated in a circle of celebrities. Suddenly, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, and numerous members of both houses of parliament were among the Kray's friends. The twins became gossip columns, and were hunted by the paparazzi. Came to London new era- "swinging 60s", and with it came a new style lives and new heroes. The Kray brothers turned out to be just such heroes.

The myth of twins

Unlike Ronnie (right), whose pathologies only increased over time, Reggie retained both athletic form and sanity.

Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images/Fotobank

Gemini learned to combine social life with banditry. They, in particular, widely practiced the scheme known as the "long firm". At first, a commercial structure was opened for a figurehead, which regularly paid taxes for several months and repaid debts to banks. Then, having earned a decent credit history, the company collected goods on credit and immediately sold them at bargain prices, after which it went bankrupt. The figurehead went to jail, knowing that a bank account was already opened in his name, and the brothers divided the profits. Only one of these operations brought the Krays about £ 100 thousand.

In the early 1960s, half of London was paying the twins for protection, and often it looked quite legal, since the Krays opened a security company and supplied their thugs as watchmen to nightclubs, restaurants and fashionable shops. At the same time, they felt themselves invulnerable to the law. Once, for example, Ronnie was charged with organizing car theft, but the case, of course, fell apart in court. At the victory party, Ronnie proposed a toast to British justice, much to the amusement of the many artists, journalists and gangsters present at the event.

On another occasion, journalists from the Sunday Mirror hinted to the public that a prominent member of the Conservative Party, Lord Boothby, was sleeping with Ronnie Kray. The twins sued and sued the newspaper for £40,000. The next time similar rumors spread around London about Ronnie and Labor MP Tom Dreiberg, not a single newspaper dared to defame the bandit's reputation.

In 1965, the brothers demanded a share in the business from the owner of a club in Soho, but he turned to the police, and both Krays were arrested. The chief inspector of Scotland Yard, Leonard Reid, who had long dreamed of putting the twins behind bars, took up the case, but no one was eager to testify against the all-powerful gangsters, and the guilty verdict was again not issued. The Krays once again threw a huge party, inviting everyone they knew to it, including Inspector Reid. The policeman came, wanting to look at the assembled beau monde and figure out the closest associates of the twins. As a result, Reed himself was identified by the paparazzi, and the photo of the senior inspector walking at a gangster party went around all the newspapers. Reid became a laughingstock, and the brothers-robbers rejoiced.

The Kray's business expanded every year. Colleagues from the American mafia, from France, from other countries came to them to establish contacts. By the mid-1960s, they had become the bigwigs of illegal business on an international scale. When a bank was robbed in Montreal in 1965, the Crays helped the New York mafia family Genovese launder stolen money and securities in London, receiving good commissions. In this regard, Ronnie bought a large Victorian mansion in Suffolk, where he lived like a real lord.

And yet the Kray brothers' business, tolerating the madness of one of them, carried the seeds of a coming disaster. Ronnie became out of control again, fueled by alcohol and drugs. He was increasingly visited by strange ideas. He either wanted to go to the Congo to do charity work, or he wanted to build in Nigeria new town, then he went to live in a trailer, talked with some fortune teller, who finally convinced him that he was Attila. Worst of all, Ronnie continued to seriously influence his prudent brother, who married Francis. Reggie's marriage was falling apart at the seams as life with a mobster proved a little like fairy tale. Frances was afraid of Ronnie and at the same time felt that for Reggie, the relationship with her brother was much more important than her interests. It only got worse from there.

The Kray brothers fell out with a rival gangster family, the Richardson brothers. Charlie and Eddie Richardson also led a gang - quite large, but still weaker than the Firm. But the Richardsons were sadists and even more psychopaths - they, for example, did not just beat their victims in order to achieve the desired result, but tortured them for a long time and inventively, pulled out their teeth with pliers, pulled out their nails, cut off their fingers, etc. Some of the Richardsons called Ronnie Kray a fat fagot, after which the war began. A certain George Cornell, who worked for the Richardsons, shot Richard Hart, who worked for the Krays, and thereby signed his own death warrant. On March 9, 1966, Ronnie broke into the pub where Cornell was drinking and shot him in the forehead.

During the years of the gang war, the atmosphere in the Reggie family became completely unbearable. Frances was on antidepressants, which did nothing to improve her mental health. Twice she tried to commit suicide and on the third time she succeeded. Reggie was inconsolable and looked more and more like his crazy brother - he also clearly wanted to kill someone. In October 1967, such an opportunity presented itself to him. Ronnie offered to kill Jack "The Hat" McVitie. This bandit contracted for a contract killing, took a deposit, but never got down to business. The Krays lured the Hat to their apartment, where Reggie shot him twice in the head. Both times the gun misfired, so Reggie started cutting McVitie with the knife while Ronnie held it. The murder turned out to be bloody, but it seems that Reggie wanted it.

In 1967, Inspector Reed again led the investigative team that collected evidence against the Kray brothers. There was quite a bit of evidence, but without witness testimony, the twins would likely have been acquitted again. Still, Scotland Yard decided to take a chance. On May 8, 1968, Reggie, Ronnie, and 15 thugs from The Firm were arrested. Reid hoped that people would start talking if they saw that the whole gang was under lock and key, and he was not mistaken. Witnesses and victims began to testify before the court, and it soon became clear that this time there would be no acquittal. The Kray brothers were found guilty of the murders of Cornell and McVitie and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of a pardon not earlier than 30 years later. Charlie Cray got seven years. Their enemies, the Richardsons, had already been winding their long prison terms.

Ronnie was again recognized as mentally ill and went to compulsory treatment, and Reggie ended up in prison, where he was deprived of almost all possible indulgences in the detention regime as a particularly dangerous criminal. Yet the Kray brothers continued to do business. Charlie Kray, who was released from prison in 1975, organized another security company called Krayleigh Enterprises, which supplied bodyguards to Hollywood stars. In particular, Frank Sinatra, who is also known for his contacts with the underworld, hired 18 people from this firm. In 1997, Charlie returned to prison after being caught smuggling cocaine and died on April 4, 2000 in his cell. The twins whiled away the time writing memoirs and painting pictures. Ronnie didn't draw very much, but Reggie proved to be a prolific artist, although he worked in the spirit of naive art. On March 17, 1995, Ronnie Kray died of a heart attack. On August 26, 2000, Reggie, who was dying of cancer, was released, and on October 1 of the same year he died. After the death of the Kray brothers, their paintings, created behind bars, were put up for several auctions, and aroused interest among buyers. So, eight paintings by Ronnie and Reggie, sold in one lot, went for £12,000.

Meanwhile, fraternal crime has not disappeared, although no one has yet been able to repeat the success of the Kray brothers, unless, of course, large gangster families like Bonanno or Gambino are taken into account. For example, in 2009, brothers Jarrod and Jamie Bacon were arrested in Vancouver, Canada, who dealt in drugs and weapons, and were also involved in several robberies and murders. Their older brother Jonathan remained at large, but died in a gangster showdown in 2011. Jarrod and Jamie are still in prison.

Features of fraternal crime also remained unchanged. Brother criminals trust each other more and are more dependent on each other, but the further they go in an effort to be together, the easier it is to catch them, since the mistakes of one of the brothers become the mistakes of all the others.

The Economic Cooperation Organization (OECD) published a report in mid-August that criticized Britain for failing to tackle corruption in foreign trade transactions. According to the organization that unites the developed countries However, the UK's unwillingness to investigate allegations of companies using bribes to obtain export contracts is damaging the country's reputation and could lead to widespread use of this evil practice.

However, international corruption is only a small part of the economic crimes committed in the United Kingdom. According to British police estimates, the country's "criminal economy" is about $80 billion (which is 3.8% of official British GDP and comparable to that of Bulgaria, Libya or Serbia).

This underground sector is controlled by over a thousand organized crime groups, most of them British in origin - despite an influx in recent years of crime syndicates from of Eastern Europe and East Asia. Three dozen of these groups are run from British prisons - the "big bosses" are serving time, but still run the affairs of their groups thanks to mobile phones and other gadgets. Despite the active actions of the British police, it is not possible to cope with illegal economic activity, primarily because of its huge scale.

Variety of species

If we talk about criminal activity, smuggling, drug trafficking, money laundering, piracy (in relation to copyright) and fraud are the most common in Britain. Arms trafficking, robberies and human trafficking for the sex industry play a prominent role.

Smuggling is made possible by a long coastline and 650 seaports and 3,000 airports and airfields. The import of goods from other EU countries is only partially controlled (thanks to Common Market rules), so criminals illegally import large volumes of tobacco and alcohol from those European countries where taxes on them are much lower. According to some estimates, 62% of loose tobacco consumed in Britain is smuggled, mostly imported from Poland and Romania.

The proceeds from piracy are estimated at $2.5 billion a year, with 80% of this amount coming from organized crime. Only pirated DVDs in Britain are sold for 500 million dollars. Despite the best efforts of the police, only 128 million pirated items were confiscated in 2007. Companies whose products are copied by pirates have lost $5.2 billion. At the same time, 75% of illegal goods are imported from abroad and only a quarter is produced domestically.

Fraud is massive - up to $28 billion Debit and credit card theft accounts for $1.1 billion, pyramid schemes $800 million, fake tours $2.3 billion and illegal network marketing a whopping $7 billion.

Firearms are actively used to carry out armed robberies (in 2007, they were committed in Britain

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