Brighton Rock

"I know what you want me to say.”

I start with a warning:

You may very well hate this film. This film may leave you feeling nonplussed, bored, frustrated. This film may disappoint you as a remake; you may consider it over-the-top and some of the acting hammy.

However, you may, like me, think that this is a very well put together thriller with a real star-making performance and all the unflinching tension one could wish for without leaving the cinema a complete wreck.

Reading the response to Brighton Rock when it debuted as the Surprise Film at the London Film Festival it was immediately clear that I was almost on my own when it came to a positive reaction. Most people seemed to have been fairly bored by it and considered it to be ‘very BBC’. I would assume that many of these people have seen the original film or read the book, neither of which I have done, and it would only seem right that they found the film less surprising and indeed shocking than I did. It has since struck me that some people may have watched Rowan Joffe’s adaptation in much the same way I endured There Will Be Blood.

Now there was a marmite film.  I know a great many people who thought it was a masterpiece but, while I could see that the technical aspects of the film were excellent, it just didn’t work as a whole for me. Spending nigh on 3 hours in the company of Daniel Plainview was not something I ever want to repeat and the film bored me to distraction. The soundtrack was intrusive and droning, the screenplay stark and stilted and I never felt truly involved. But some people were gripped. Some people applauded at the end while I wanted to get out as soon as possible. I think Brighton Rock may have the same effect on people and I am very interested to see how it is received by the critics.

To me, Joffe’s adaptation of Graham Greene’s novel (and he is very clear that it is an adaptation and not a remake of the 1947 film) is an intense, frightening look at internal mob rule. Transplanting the action to the youth riots of the 60s, Joffe presents a bleak look at the lives of Pinkie Brown, Rose Wilson, Ida and the rival gang members of Brighton. Sam Riley plays Pinkie, youngster of one of these gangs who decides to claim leadership when his previous chief is murdered. He is pretty much an unblinking psychopath and Riley imbues him with a tension that is hard to bear. It’s an open wound of a performance. You don’t really want to look but for reasons best explained by psychologists, your eyes keep getting dragged back.

Andrea Riseborough as Rose Wilson, Pinkie’s girlfriend, plays the part beautifully. Rose is an innocent; a very young girl absolutely taken with her first encounter with anything resembling love, and Riseborough is heartbreakingly good. Award-worthy, even. Helen Mirren is also outstanding as Ida, Rose’s employer, trying to save the girl from herself, and the supporting cast is strong. 

The film is very stark, with a violent orchestral score only emphasising the constant threat within the piece, and there is virtually no attempt to lighten the tone.  There are very few humorous moments and any that do crop up are usually immediately undercut with another rise in tension. The cinematography is clean and dark and the 60s seaside town is well realised with excellent detail. 

A film that will split opinion but that will stay with me for a long time - 9/10