Luca Changretta is an Italian-American mobster from New York City and the main antagonist of Season 4 of Peaky Blinders. He comes to Birmingham seeking revenge against the Shelby family for the deaths of his father and brother.
Character History[]
Background[]
Luca Changretta was an Italian-American mobster, son of Vicente Changretta and Audrey Changretta and a leader of the Changretta mob. His mob does work in the liquor business stationed in New York. The mob has a heavy rivalry with Chicago's Al Capone, as New York is an important trading port for transporting alcohol from Europe. Changretta is also a soldier for the Spinietta family.
In approximate 1919-1920 Luca Changretta came from New York to Birmingham to be best man at his cousin's wedding.
Series 4 · 1925-1926[]
"Instead of sending you a black hand, I could've killed you in the night without knowing why. But I want you to know why, and I wanna suggest to you that we fight this vendetta with honor."
Luca Changretta
After his father and brother, Angel Changretta, are killed by the Peaky Blinders he obtains enough information from his surviving mother, Audrey, to launch a vendetta in Birmingham against Thomas and the rest of the of the surviving Shelby family.
Luca Changretta and his men arrive in England
Luca would make his first appearance in Episode 4.1 while crossing into Liverpool. The guard at the passport check noticed something was amiss after admitting passage from several Italian-Americans in a row. He proceeded to question Luca who answered indirectly. The guard became nervous, and with nothing legitimate to stop admittance, stamped Luca's passport.
In Episode 4.2, Luca makes his first acquaintance with Thomas Shelby. He set up a meeting through Thomas' factory and went by the title "Monsieur Pan." The two began a duel of words, talking back and forth, attempting to get the best of one another until Thomas openly called Luca by his real name. It was then Luca revealed that he was in Birmingham for the sole purpose of destroying the Shelby family and name in a vendetta for the death of his father, Vicente Changratta. The two agreed that the war would be fought with honor, no children were to be harmed and no police were to be used. As Tommy later finds out, Luca and his mother planned to either let Thomas Shelby live, or leave him to die last after the rest of his family is killed off, as this would cause him the most amount of pain.
Polly Gray and Luca Changretta
It was during the events of Episode 4.3 where Luca would make contact with Polly Gray who would agree to the terms of giving Thomas up and let Arthur, Finn and Michael Gray live. It was at this meeting where Luca would utter the threatening words "you're dancing with me," indicating Polly should not cross him if they want to live.
In Episode 4.3 Luca sends two of his men after Arthur Shelby, who manages to kill both assassins. Angered by the loss of his men and the comments he receives from Matteo regarding the food in Birmingham, Luca force feeds him a scone. After calming down, his men suggest to work with Mrs. Ross to trap Arthur Shelby, which he agrees to.
In Episode 4.4 the trap setup for Arthur Shelby is a decoy by Luca and his men so they can get to Michael Gray, Luca puts a gun on Michael's forehead and pulls the triger, revealing that his gun was not loaded. He tells Michael to pass the message along to Polly Gray that they have a deal before leaving. He is later ambushed by Aberama Gold and his men, losing two of his own men in the process. The episode ends with Luca and four of his men following Tommy Shelby back to Artillery Square.
In Episode 4.5, Luca and four of his men chase Thomas Shelby to Artillery Square, trying to ambush him. Thomas however is aware of the planned surprise attack and opens fire on the Italians, killing one out of the five that are chasing him. During the rest of the chase Tommy is able to kill two more before Luca challenges Tommy to a duel between the two of them, however this is stopped by the Birmingham police before it can even start. Later he and Matteo visit Alfie Solomons to get him to smuggle Luca's men in the building where the boxing match between Bonnie Gold and Goliath is to take place. In return for this Alfie asks for a export deal of 200 barrels of his gin per month and that Luca has all of his men circumcised.
In Episode 4.6, Luca orders two Italian assassins to murder Arthur during the events of the boxing match. This was heavily hinted at the end of Episode 4.5. One of the assassins successfully tricks Arthur into following him into the changing rooms. After Arthur searches for the man, he is ambushed and supposedly killed by asphyxiation. Tommy precedes to inform his family members that Arthur has died, before going into the ring after the fight has ended and he proclaims his brother's death to the audience. This gives Luca the impression that his plan had worked.
The next sighting we find of Luca is of him and around a dozen mob members, including his closest member, Matteo. He orders for Tommy to sign several pieces of paperwork to hand over Shelby Company Ltd. to Luca and the Changretta family. However, Tommy informs him of the rival gang in New York that is about to take over the Changretta business, and reminds him that Luca has no blood-related mob members left. In a surprise turn of events, he also tells Luca that his men now work under Tommy, as he is now the "highest bidder." Luca is enraged by this and tries to shoot Tommy, who retaliates by knocking the gun out of his hand and the two have a fist fight in the cellar. After an intense fight, the Shelbys come out on top, as a surprise figure comes storming through the doors nearby. There stands Arthur, who was presumed dead by everyone except Tommy and Polly, who both knew all along that Arthur was majorly injured, not dead. Tommy explains this, and Arthur keeps his promise on avenging his deceased brother John, by shooting Luca in the forehead with a pistol.
Personality[]
Luca is a typical Italian-American mafia leader. He loves his mother and often tells people the advice she gave him in how to wage his vendetta against the Peaky Blinders. He also clearly loves and respects his father, as his death causes Luca to begin his vendetta against the entire Shelby family. Luca at least draws the line at harming children. He also at least somewhat values the lives of the men who follow him, making sure their loved ones are notified of their passing, giving them last respects, and calling Tommy "an animal" for killing one of his men after the man was already severely wounded. Luca admits that the smarter move would have been for him to assassinate the Shelbys right away before they had time to prepare. However, he intends to honor his father by following the traditions of the Sicilian Vendetta, which requires that he first informs his targets that he is coming to kill them. Luca is very concerned with his appearance, always making sure to wear the sharpest, finest suits. Despite his pretensions of culture, style, and connections, in the end, Luca is just another arrogant criminal. When he thinks he's beaten the Shelbys, he drops his veneer of professionalism and manners and shows his true loathsome qualities. He gropes and insults Polly, takes great obvious relish in destroying the Shelbys' lives, gloats about murdering John and Arthur, and demands Tommy sign the contracts on his knees simply to humiliate him.
Relationships[]
Luca Changretta and his family
Audrey Changretta[]
Like most Italian mob or mafia dynamics at the time, Luca and his brother, Angel, had extreme respect for both his mother and father. Since the death of Vicente Changretta, it was Audrey Changretta who would launch base orders from her position in New York. Luca made sure to mention the wishes of his mother to Thomas upon their first meeting. Luca would later reference his mother throughout the rest of the season. Luca lets his mother act as his ambassador to set terms of surrender for the Peaky Blinders. He follows her advice about letting the Shelbys live with nothing as that would be crueler than killing them all. However, little does Luca know that Thomas and his mother have an extremely torrid affair that was kept surreptitiously from Luca. It was extremely unfortunate however, when Luca found out because John Shelby was killed as a result.
Luca Changretta
Quotes[]
"We are an organization of a different dimension, you dress well, Mr. Shelby. But now I see, not so well as me." - Luca Changretta to Thomas Shelby
"You know, my mother used to say this about you. She said, "That Polly Gray, that child would never let go of a grievance."- Luca Changretta to Polly Gray
That's a shame cos you're dancing with me. - Luca Changretta to Polly Gray
"All that is left of the Peaky fucking Blinders." - Luca Changretta to Thomas Shelby, Polly Gray, and Finn Shelby
"I would have buried you all. But my mother, she knows you. She said it'll be worse for you if I let you live and take away everything that you have." - Luca Changretta to Thomas Shelby, Polly Gray and Finn Shelby
"Especially don't trust this bitch."- Luca Changretta to Polly Gray
Appearances[]
| Series 4 Appearances | |||||
| The Noose | Heathens | Blackbird | Dangerous | The Duel | The Company |
Image Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The passport page Luca used to get in UK shows entry to Cambodia using Bavet's immigration stamp which only exist from at least 2008.