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The north London producer behind The Krays has said he regrets popularising the criminal gangsters in the hit 1990 film.
The film starred real-life brothers Martin and Gary Kemp, with the story remade for 2015 film, Legend, starring Tom Hardy as both siblings.
The brothers became revered and admired figures in the East End of London during the 1960s for their confidence and charisma, as well as their influence and power over the local community.
However, Burdis regrets creating an aura of glamour around the pair, fearing that he had romanticised the brothers.
“They weren’t folk heroes,” he told The Guardian. “They were just a pair of cowardly psychopathic bullies, who terrorised the East End of London in the 1960s.”
He added, “Because I’ve grown up with gangsters as a north London boy, I wasn’t intimidated at all by the Krays. I was intrigued. I wanted to make a film that glamorised them at the time because that’s what you did in those days.
“When it went out, I was happy as it was a big film. But, as I got older, I thought this was wrong. I feel bad about certain aspects of the film. I thought it’s time for someone to speak out and tell the truth.”
The Bafta-nominated movie opened with success at the UK box office, and came in the wake of successful gangster films including Scarface. Burdis suggested that the success of movies like The Godfather starring Marlon Brando had created a culture in which gangsters were idolised.
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However, he explained that the creators of the film had attempted to focus on the twins’ personal life, including their marriage and their relationship with their mother.
“Although there were violent scenes, we steered away from that. We went for the matriarchal side of it … mummy’s boys, good boys, lovely boys,” he continued.
“They fought for their mother – that [was] the premise of the film. The film is about the myth of the Krays. It wasn’t about the reality.”
