After the success of The Godfather, gangster films and television series have become increasingly popular. While very few have reached a level of success near The Godfather's, there are a number of well-put-together gangster creations that lend themselves to action and drama-filled stories.
Streaming platforms like Netflix have lent themselves to create these stories and have had success in doing so. Following its limited release in theaters, The Irishman began streaming on Netflix and was nominated for ten Academy Awards. In addition to the success of films like The Irishman, Netflix houses a series that introduces a story based loosely on the history behind a real gangster clan from the early 1900s.
Peaky Blinders first aired in 2013 and has run for five successful seasons. The series' sixth and final season is set to premiere in 2022 with a film adaptation already in the works. Peaky Blinders stars Cillian Murphy, Helen McCrory, Joe Cole, Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle, Finn Cole, and Harry Kirton as members of the feared Shelby family. The Shelbys lead the Peaky Blinder gang in Birmingham as they invest in both legal and illegal business practices. Gaining traction in their English community, the series incorporates countless stars in the midst of the Peaky Blinders cast, including Natasha O'Keeffe, Sam Neill, Kate Phillips, Charlotte Riley, Annabelle Wallis, Tom Hardy, Adrien Brody, Aidan Gillen, and Sam Claflin. With such a stacked cast, the British series is well-rounded with so many stars giving one of the best performances of their career.
Along the way, the Shelbys are forced to deal with problems amongst each other, the alliances they have made, and the enemies that hope for their downfall. Some of the foes the Peaky Blinders face are based on real-life mobsters. They include Italian-English mobster Darby Sabini and leader of the Birmingham Boys, Billy Kimber. Most recently, the Blinders have crossed paths with Oswald Mosley (Claflin), a leader of the British Union of Fascists. While the Peaky Blinders themselves are a real gang, the Shelby family and many of their allies and other foes, are fictional creations from Peaky Blinders' creator, Steven Knight. Knight has served as a director, producer, and writer for a number of celebrated projects including Taboo, Locke, and the upcoming biopic Spencer.
At the start of Peaky Blinders, the gang's apparent leader, Thomas Shelby (Murphy), and his two right-hand men, Arthur (Anderson) and John (Jole Cole) continue to refamiliarize themselves with their Small Heath community following their stint in the war. Of the three men, Thomas quickly comes across as the most composed, rarely showing any sign of emotion throughout the series. The oldest, Arthur, is the hothead of the group, often getting into nonsensical fights or using an unneeded amount of violence to rough someone up. John is the most easy-going and lovable of the men, allowing him to deliver the sometimes needed comedic moments within the grim Blinder life.
During their time away, the Blinder businesses were run by the family's apparent voice of reason, Polly Gray (McCrory). Presenting a united front, the Shelbys are not above keeping secrets from one another, leading to many fights amongst the members. Ada Shelby (Rundle) has secretly been seeing Freddie Thorne behind her family's back. Once close friends with Thomas, Freddie is a rising Communist advocate in the small Birmingham community, drawing quite a bit of heat to him. With the police already keeping such a close eye on Freddie for his public political affiliations, the heat for the Blinders continues to increase once they become the prime suspects for the missing Irish guns.
The Irish guns soon become the least of the Blinders' problems, as the Blinders continue to make enemies by infringing upon the turf of other gangsters. The Peaky Blinders differ from many other traditional gangster flicks, as the group does not solely consist of blood-related family members. Instead, the gang is made up of a combination of friends and local business owners, employees, and citizens that were brave enough to offer themselves to be a member of the gang. Sometimes, the Blinders still don't have enough manpower to keep up with their expanding business, leading them to make alliances with other big names in England. Their growing reputation lands them in the sights of some interesting characters including the eccentric Jewish gangster Alfie Solomons (Hardy) and Aberama Gold's (Gillen) group of hitmen for hire. Of course, anyone who has experience with gangster creations knows that the only people that can be trusted are usually family. While the Shelbys are not above going behind one another's back, some of their outside alliances are forced to learn what happens once they cross the Peaky Blinders.
There is no other series like Peaky Blinders. In addition to its gangster premise, Peaky Blinders is filled with action, gore, romance, betrayal, crime, and it occasionally has its comedic moments. The series is full of close calls with both main and secondary characters having worrisome injuries, prison stints, and unfortunate terms they must abide by. Accompanied by a soundtrack that one wouldn't expect from such a serious gangster series, Peaky Blinders becomes more unlike anything anyone has ever seen. Using a combination of music from Pj Harvey, Arctic Monkey,s Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and many others, the peculiar music choices fit the tone of the beautifully crafted shots of Peaky Blinders perfectly.
Peaky Blinders is now streaming on Netflix.