PEAKY BLINDERS: REWATCH THE SERIES NOT THE MOVIE!

When some movie or series or an exhibition is highly anticipated frustration grows bigger. 

I remember watching the S1E1 of Peaky Blinders. Cillian Murphy as Thomas Shelby, knowing that he has been watched, makes a big entrance on the horse. He rides the horse like a victorious general and the children around the poor houses secretly watches him with scared eyes. A Chinese man brings the girl who tells the fortunes.

Thomas Shelby gives the Chinese man a banknote. Then comes the power of that magic spell with the red dust in the fortuneteller girl’s hands.

 

 

After she pours the red dust to the horse every child in the neighbourhood knows that that horse would win the race. What a wonderful and splendid way of making a hustle.

As Thomas Shelby knows every face is watching him, he tells the name of the horse, the time and place of the race. Thus speaks the Zarahustra.

This was in Birmingham, England in 1919.

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The Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man movie takes place in 1940. The movie begins with these words:

“The Nazi government forced hundreds of millions of pounds in counterfeit currency. They devised a plan to smuggle it into great Britain-the last country in western Europe still standing against fascism. The huge injection of money will flood the banking system. Crash the economy and win the war for Germany.“

This naive plan,  of course, should include The Peaky Blinders. As Thomas Shelby is retired in his castle and Arthur Shelby is dead, they have a new and fierce leader. The bastard son of Thomas and the Gypsy woman named Zelda: Duke Shelby. 

Barry Keoghan in the Duke Shelby character is the one and only beautiful side of the movie. It lasts 1h 52mins but we have watched in S6E6 Lock and Key 1h 21mins of marvelous scenes. We were used to a gang of a Gypsy family consisting different ages of men and lads. Cousins, fathers, brothers and they are led by a powerful woman: Aunt Polly. (played by Helen McCrory died during the shooting of the series, RIP.)

In the movie, Cillian Murphy as Thomas Shelby should not have the lead role. Duke Shelby should run a gang which we have to know the names and memorize the faces. A strong woman should have participated, not a ghostly Rebecca Ferguson playing the role of Kaulo Chiriklo, the twin sister of the Gypsy woman Zelda.

Barry Keoghan as Duke Shelby should have run the show. And when everything has turned into a big mess Cillian Murphy as Thomas Shelby on his horse should have interfered out of the blue as deus ex machina. 

Of course these are my thoughts about the movie. I’m sorry for the screenplay because it didn’t give me the thrills as the series did. Perhaps Peaky Blinders should have ended as they were at the peak. 

An award-winner actor, Stephen Graham wasn’t enough to make the ends meet in the movie. Even Thomas Shelby’s returning to Birmingham riding the horse with the opening song of the series Red Right Hand from Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds and making a few tricks in the pub named Garrison wasn’t enough to save the movie. 

I won’t tell you further spoilers about the story. But I recommend to the beginners and the fans rewatch the series, not the movie!