THE END/A STRONG BEGINNING

Britain’s string of exceptional documentaries continues with another astonishing look at the criminal fraternity.

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This one, The End, is made, surprisingly, by two London women, Nicola Collins, directing her first film, and her sister Teena, who produced it.

Or not so surprisingly, in fact, as the Collins girls are – surprisingly – the daughters of the main bad guy in question!

Talk about a small world!

Nicola says, "Throughout my life I've been asked about my father's occupation and I've always found it to be a difficult question to answer.

No surprise there.

"It is a story of human nature. An intimate exploration into the lives of real life 'Cockney' gangsters. More so it's an accounting of their environment and the world that they created".

Now factor in that said Nicola actually started life in front of the camera, responding at the age of 15 to an street corner invite from IMG Agency to do seven years of modeling for the likes of Elle, Vogue and Stella Mac on catwalks around the world.

And she followed up this buzz by appearing with sis Teena in Guy Ritchie’s gangster flick Snatch.

Has their fresh female perspective softened the brutality of their father and his hard men friends? Not a bit of it. Instead The End is a gripping exploration of human nature, grimaces, warts, tattoos and all.

Through a series of scintillating, super exclusive interviews with their father's friends, The End explores the complexity of these renegade East London's lives, detailing how they shaped, through their efforts to escape poverty, their war torn fifties environment into a violent underworld.

It is not a pretty tale but it has an irresistible and, for the law abiding, a frightening logic.

Certainly the gang's strong friendships and their respect for honour are admirable, albeit in a perverse way.

The film has been chosen to feature – and makes its international debut - at the Rotterdam Film Festival in late January. All in all a very promising start for the girls and The End.

Filed January 15, 2008.