Takes me back

Rating: 8/10 (23 January 2010)

I really enjoyed Hooligans. Lexi Alexander, the director, made a fun and fast-paced action film. There are innumerable fight scenes with plenty of boozing and swearing and the acting is convincing, especially from Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnam. The film does not judge harshly those that participate in hooliganism but it shows that the potential risks can outweigh the thrills.
It reminded me of life in England in the 1970s. The film depicted fairly accurately some aspects of the football world as it was then. I knew people who would travel around the country supposedly supporting their team who were mainly looking for a fight. I had a friend at college who eventually became an accountant who liked the excitement and the camaraderie. Most of the hooligans gave it up when they reached their early twenties. They grew up, found girl friends and realised that having a criminal record might damage their future career prospects.
In the 1970s hooliganism was in many ways tolerated by the authorities. The assumption was that young men liked to fight and as long as they just beat each other up hopefully they would get the violence out of their systems and become solid members of society. It was when English fans started to export the violence overseas that the authorities began to take notice and it became a national embarrassment. After the Heysel Disaster in 1985 when 39 Italian fans were killed in a stampede trying to escape from rampaging Liverpool supporters the British government carried out a major crackdown and it became less of a problem in the years that followed. There is still the occasional flare up, mostly involving England when they play overseas, but the police seem to have the situation under control. I now live in the US and have no idea whether the world shown in the film still exists.
The film is good fun and focuses on the fights and the male bonding. It does not try to explain why young men felt the need to behave this way.