Hit, The (1984)

The Hit (1984), directed by Stephen Frears.

Willie has not just turned against his crime gang, he is a supergrass whose testimony brings down the entire organization. Ominously, they sing "We'll Meet Again" to him in court (which happened in real life), this against an early 70s assault on the eyes of loud flared trousers and shag haircuts.

Ten years later he is enjoying a new witness protection identity in a remote part of Spain. He's become a reader and seems a gentle man with many local friends.

You know that can't last. The mob will find him and send specialists to fetch him back. It won't end well.

Nobody does working-class cops and crooks movies like the Brits. It becomes a buddy road-trip movie, which is curious because two of the four in the car are supposed to die.

Excellent cast:

• Terence Stamp is the witness in hiding, now at the end of the line. Is he planning a cunning escape, or has he become reconciled to his end? A person might be resolved to die well, but still panic when the moment comes. Stamp's character is much like the one in The Limey (1999). Tough, cold on the outside, but in his heart... who can say?

• John Hurt is the professional hit-man. How is his career going? Why have "they" given him a trainee assistant who is little better than a street brawler? He comes to like and admire Willie, but still -- the job is the job. That kit he brings out at the end: was he planning the final scene all along? He doesn't kill someone he should, which seals his fate. Is it love?

• Tim Roth, age 23, is the new guy who can't follow orders and lets his emotions interfere with his work. Roth said he became an actor "by accident". He had never been out of the country before, never on a plane, and had never sat next to a woman as hot as the photogenic Laura del Sol, professional flamenco dancer.

Spot young Jim Broadbent as a barrister, giving this film a Harry Potter count of 2.

Roger Waters and Eric Clapton provide the title music. The rest is Spanish guitar.

Criterion DVD. The edited gang commentary track has many good stories.