14. The Krays (1990)
Based upon the lives of Ronald and Reginald Kray, an infamous pair of twins who made their mark on the London gangster scene back in the 1950s/1960s. The film follows the Kray brothers from their early childhood worship of their mother right up to their sadistic, murderous activities. Stress is placed on the dynamics between the twins with Ronald being the more sadistic and dominant one with Reginald mainly following him in this line reluctantly. Gary and Martin Kemp are very well cast in the roles of the Kray twins, they are believable as twin brothers and they have a weird relationship which is played out on the screen. The film tackles Ronnie's homosexuality, which was a huge taboo back in the 1960s but was coming into much greater acceptance in the 1990s when the film was made. The film is probably a lot more glamourised than the Krays' actual existence which is filtered through a fiercely protective mother's eyes throughout the film. There are some genuinely nasty moments of violence in the film and the movie is unremittingly bleak, grim and depressing. I wouldn't hold it as a realistic account of the Krays, but it is uncompromising viewing nonetheless.