GET CARTER

UK, 1971, 112 minutes, Colour.
Michael Caine, John Osborne, Ian Hendry, Britt Ekland.
Directed by Mike Hodges.

The main reason for seeing this film is that you enjoy gangster movies. This it is, and quite a violent one whose impact is stronger than usual, probably because it is set in Newcastle- on- Tyne, in slums, on ugly bridges and dreary beaches - no Chicago mystique, no glamour, just greed, exploitation and perversion. There are no pleasant characters, not even Carter himself, though he shows some basic feelings which are then used to feed his revenge. Michael Caine is as usual as Carter. Playwright John Osborne portrays one of the villains. A grim story about the type of gangster you read about in most big cities

1. What audience is a film like this made for? Why?

2. The film presents an ugly world, an ugly underworld, Is such a prolonged immersion in such a world a healthy experience? or has the film positive merit? Redeeming features? Is there a value for the ordinary movie-goer to see something of this 'other' world? Why?

3. Is the film successful within its genre? What are the reasons for its success or failures?

4. How much of the film's success and impact depends on Michael Caine's performance as Carter? Why? What kind of person was Carter? Why? Good qualities? Bad? Could an audience identify with him easily? Was he on the side of good -against evil?

5. This kind of underworld is usually associated with America. What is the impact of seeing the British equivalent? Does it make it seem uglier or not?

6. What moral standards does the film work in - are there any standards? For Carter - what is the basis of his sense of right and wrong? Does it presuppose moral standards in the audience to judge the film by?

7. How did each of the supporting characters come across - as personalities or cliches?

8. What kind of people were they? How was this tested by their encounter with Carter?
- Anna - sensuality. fidelity;
- Kinnear - boss.. power, sleazy, cruel;
- Eric Paice - criminal, procurer. conscience-less;
- Glenda - ambiguous attitudes. saving herself;
- Brumby - racketeer;
- Margater, Doreen, Swift - the blue movie.
Were any characters pleasant at all?

9. How gratuitous the violence? How necessary?

10. The impact of the British, Newcastle environment on the action and issues of the film?

11. Carter's death - its meaning. as a conclusion to this film, the irony of it?

12. What was Carter's mission, purpose in life? Does this film bear much resemblance to the realities of modern gangster life?