Director's Chair: Guy Ritchie

05-09-2008 12:47

British director Guy Ritchie shot to fame in 1998 when he released his first feature length film Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

With no formal training Ritchie began his directing career in 1995 when he shot The Hard Case, a twenty minute short. But it was Lock Stock three years later where he really made a name for himself and actor Jason Statham.

The British crime film follows a self-confident young card player who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime in a card game that was rigged.

In a bid to pay off his debts he and his friends plan to rob a small time gang who run their operations out of the flat next door.

The film brought the young director international acclaim and the film, made on a $1 million budget, is considered one of the best British films of all time.

Just two years later and Ritchie returned with his second feature Snatch, which also looked at London's criminal underworld.

When a dizzying robbery takes place in the Orthodox Jewish diamond district, a flawless 86-carat gem, the size of an infant's fist, is lifted in the snatch.