This documentary follows the notorious British gangster, Dominic Noonan and the Noonan family, famous for being a family associated with organized crime over a course of 3 years, recording both major and minor events in their lives. The main focus however is Dominic, who is now the 'leader' of the family ever since the death of his brother, Desmond.
The documentary was broadcast on Channel 5 in 2006, and is often mistaken for a film due to the fact that it has many conventions of a typical gangster film, for example, there are themes of drugs, crime and violence, and when it was released, the way in which certain storylines evolve, such as Dominic's struggle with the police for so called 'harassment' also relates to gangster film conventions, but throughout we are reminded that there are consequences to the actions of real people.
Genre: The documentary could be both biographical, as it features information about past events that have led up to the Noonans current position in their society and led to their reputation. It could also be classed as investigative, as it digs into the crimes committed and asks why and what made them occur, it also exposes the dark urban underbelly of Manchester that is supposedly ruled by organized crime.
The aim of the documentary is to allow an audience to discover the people behind the reputations, so the audience can see what the family and Dominic are like, what goes on in their lives and how they feel about it. It also allows the audience to take a glimpse into the seedy world of gangsters and organized crime, learning about some of the crimes involved, the risks of these crimes, and the consequences.
Style - Textual Analysis: The documentary is filmed on a handheld camera, and is a particular motif of documentaries, it allows actuality to be shown, as events are filmed as they unfold. The piece is narrated by the director Donal MacIntyre who takes a major role in the documentary, following Dominic Noonan, and often presenting a series of questions and answers, about events or Dominics life, made by Donal and answered by Dominic.
The documentary begins with a long shot of the nightlife of Manchester, then we hear the non-diegetic sound of loud, hip-hop / dub-step music, as we are presented with small white bold credits fading in and out of the screen. We soon see a mid shot of Dominic and two of his young henchman, dressed smartly in suits, (this is because they're at the top of their line of 'work' and have to present themselves properly), standing outside at night, Dominic stands in the middle, as to tell us that he is the alpha male. We hear the diegetic sound of Dominic speaking, saying Manchester is where he was born, has lived and this is where he will die and also stating that Manchester is run by police in the day, but run by gangsters at night.
We're then presented with a series of long and mid shots of the dark, urban, inner-city of Manchester, featuring alleyways and underpasses while the group of males move through them; there is then a low angle shot looking up at the gang standing at an underpass, showing that they are the dominant characters, at this point the documentary title is featured on a bridge, next to the group. Music continues as we see a close up, tracking shot of the gang walking towards the camera, but this has been slowed down in editing, as almost its a homage to the gangster film, Reservoir Dogs. A non-diegetic voice-over from Donal tells us of the 40 convictions Dominic has faced, his 29 years in prison and some other facts to introduce Dominic to the audience.
This leads us to Dominics first interview in the documentary, filmed in close-ups of Dominics face, to give all the focus on him, as hes the main protagonist of the documentary, there is then a cutaway to his hands, which shows us all of the gold rings, chains and 'bling' that Dominic possesses, linking to the idea that he must be a rich man to afford them. We hear the diegetic sounds of Donal asking Dominic questions and Dominics replies; when asked about a certain offense he committed, Dominic calmly explains what happened, showing no remorse and even laughs about it! This makes Dominic seem like a monster with barely any morals, but it's up the audience to subjectively decide. Dominic uses many slang words and has a obvious accent.
The documentary so far is filmed in jump cuts, and another jump cut leads us to a house full of working class decor, with objects messily placed around the living room, for example, a dirty bike leans on a fairly dark fish tank. We hear the diegetic sound of many conversations and a general hustle and bustle of a packed household. This is where we meet the Noonan family, including Dominics godson, referencing to the gangster film, The Godfather, and Dominics son, who he calls Bugsy, after the famous gangster with the same name. There is a lot of gangster references in Dominics life, lines from gangster films, famous gangster names, and he openly discusses his crimes. Then Dominic is handed his bulletproof vest, a very bold statement about his lifestyle, and admits he used to wear it on his organized crime jobs. This part is filmed in close-ups of Dominics face and his families faces, then mid shots of the living room.
The documentary then moves to a run down, working class street in daylight as we hear the diegetic sound of car engines roaring, and we see a collection of car engines and vans lined on the street in long shots and mid shots as Dominic talks about job opportunities to steal cars and when he once stole a van.
This is followed up by a quick series of images, close ups of barbed wire fences, security cameras and high brick walls, this relates to the footage being shown shortly after of the breakout at Strangeways prison in the 80s, this footage is from an old security camera and from an old episode of a news show and takes a retrospective look on Dominics past.
Dominic admits throughout the documentary that he is still very active in committing crimes and the reason he keeps a young group of henchman around him is that they are more loyal than others he has had in the past, it could also be assumed that he keeps young henchman because if they get caught for a crime, they won't go to prison for a lengthy amount of time like Dominic would, they would be given a formal warning or be sent to a young offenders institute.
But there is another side to Dominic, we see footage of Dominic driving around in a car with his henchman after being called on his mobile phoned to a disturbance in his area, he admits that people in his area feel they cannot go to the police so they go to him to sort out their problems. In the car we hear the diegetic sound of the engine and general chatter amongst the gang while it's filmed in a close up of the gang.
During the argument, the police arrive to try and solve the situation, we hear the diegetic sound of their sirens and them talking to each other and the shouting citizens, but Dominic steps in and resolves the conflict all on his own without police assistance, perhaps this shows that because of his reputation and status in the community, he is more respected than the police in that area and people feel they can rely on him more.
Considering he is a man convicted 40 times and implicated with murder cases, but never charged, this means we have a potential killer on our screens, but everyday people around him, trust him with their personal business and affairs and look to him for help and guidance; in a respect the documentary shows Dominic as a notorious gangster, showing no remorse for his crimes, but also as the local Samaritan if needs be, this humanizes him and makes him seem normal to us; but the concept of a normal friendly helpful person also being capable of murder, kidnapping and various crimes, is a concept of nightmares.
Form: The documentary is very much in a narrative form, as it follows Dominic Noonan on a day to day basis, along with his henchmen and what they do for a living while trying to stay away from going to prison. It also follows the events unfolding in the neighbourhood they live in, such as domestic violence and arguements and even brawls.
Audience: I believe the audience for this documentary is anyone from the age of 16-40, as anyone under the age of 16 may be shocked by Dominic Noonans extensive crime history and may be shocked by some of the stories that he tells (including when he cut a dogs head off). I think adults will be able to watch this as it is very interesting in providing an insight into the life of a criminal and how different it is from everyday life, also some adults may be able to remember when certain gangs rivaled against each other and what the era's were like when gangsters had a big part to play in inner city nightlife, such as running high end clubs and casinos.
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