You go back and you tell Rutherman no-one f*cks with us. This is nothing. Give me

           your hand. Do it!  [Ronnie sticks a sword through the gangster's hand and twists it.

                     Blood drips from the snooker table]

The film begins with a shot of a swan in flight over the caption "Shall I tell you my dream?" and charts Ronnie and Reggie Kray's lives from their humble beginnings in the East End of London to their rise in the 1960s to become the most infamous and notorious gangland leaders in London's criminal underworld. They were subsequently convicted of murder and were incarcerated for over 30 years. Ron died in Broadmoor, a high security psychiatric hospital, in 1995. Reg however was released on the 1st October 2000 on health grounds. He died 3 weeks later of cancer.

The film charts the lives of the Krays from childhood, paying particular attention to how they were very close to their doting mother and also the relationship between the twins, with Ronald the more dominant and violent twin and Reginald carrying out acts of violence primarily at the behest of his brother.

The film contains a notoriously gruesome scene in which Ronald gives someone a so-called 'Chelsea smile', which involves holding a knife horizontally over the victim's mouth and applying pressure, the blade carving through the victim's cheeks and the resulting injuries giving the impression they are, quite literally, smiling "from ear to ear". On a lighter note the film also contains a memorable scene where the Krays hold a meeting at their parent's house. Halfway through the meeting the Krays' mother cheerfully brings up cups of tea for everyone and fusses over all the heavily built men who are crammed into one tiny room.

Their mother was supposedly unaware that her sons' business activities were illegal. The other gangsters know how devoted the Krays are to their mother and they treat her with fawning respect.

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