| Brighton Rock | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Rowan Joffe |
| Produced by | Paul Webster |
| Screenplay by | Rowan Joffe |
| Based on | Brighton Rock by Graham Greene |
| Starring | Sam Riley Andrea Riseborough Andy Serkis John Hurt Helen Mirren |
| Music by | Martin Phipps |
| Cinematography | John Mathieson |
| Editing by | Joe Walker |
| Studio | StudioCanal BBC Films Kudos Film and Television |
| Distributed by | Optimum Releasing (UK) IFC Films (US) Madman Films (Aus/NZ) |
| Release date(s) | 13 September 2010 (Toronto) 4 February 2011 (United Kingdom) |
| Running time | 111mins |
| Country | United Kingdom France |
| Language | English |
Brighton Rock is a 2010 British film based on the novel of the same name by Graham Greene. Rowan Joffe wrote the screenplay and directed the film, which stars Sam Riley, Andrea Riseborough, Andy Serkis, John Hurt, and Helen Mirren.
The novel was previously made into a film in 1947 by the Boulting brothers under the same title. Although the novel and original film are both set in the 1930s, the 21st century adaptation takes place in Brighton and is set during the Mods and Rockers era of the 1960s.[1][2]
Riley plays "Pinkie", the role originally played by Richard Attenborough. It was largely filmed in the nearby town of Eastbourne, with Eastbourne Pier standing in for Brighton Pier, and at Beachy Head. Some scenes were shot at Hedsor House in Buckinghamshire and in Brighton itself.
Contents |
Pinkie Brown, the sociopathic leader of a Brighton gang, murders a gambler who owes him money. He then tells Rose, a young waitress with whom he is infatuated, about the crime in a fit of passion, and hastily marries her to keep her quiet. Ida, a local businesswoman, befriends Rose and takes it upon herself to save the girl from the monster she has married.
Joffe was originally uninterested in the project, which as first proposed was to be a remake of the film, but after re-reading the novel, Joffe "fell absolutely in love with the character of Rose" and convinced the studio to let him adapt the novel directly.[3] Joffe later explained why he did his own adaptation of the novel:[3]
The novel was worthy of a contemporary adaptation. In fact, it makes it almost more dutiful as a filmmaker if you love the novel, to bring it to life without the restriction of censorship. I mean, a lot of the Catholicism was cut out of the original film because they didn’t want to offend Catholics.... there are aspects of the film where if critics were to be honest about, and few of them have been certainly in England, that the 1947 version is a rather tame adaptation and certainly fails to do justice to the character of Rose, because the original black and white was made in a period where we were culturally and politically very patronising to women.
Brighton Rock played at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010[4] and the BFI London Film Festival in October 2010.[5]
The film was released theatrically in the United Kingdom on 4 February 2011, and in Australia on April 14, 2011.[6] In the United States, IFC Films released the film in August 2011, theatrically in New York City and Los Angeles,[7] and elsewhere via video-on-demand.[8]
According to Stephen Holden,[7] "Mr. Joffe has turned Brighton Rock into a full-scale film noir with the stylistic undertow of a more modern British gangster movie. As potentially lethal as the thugs may be, they are also slightly over-the-hill small-time bookies who seem anything but invincible, and the movie gives each a complicated personality. Andy Serkis is outstanding as the oily Colleoni, a smirking sybarite and crime lord with playboy airs." Holden notes "Mr. Riley, now 31, is a little too old to play a teenage gangster, and it throws the movie off somewhat. If Pinkie's recklessly impulsive behavior is that of a frightened teenager, Mr. Riley's slick hair, facial scar and cold, wide-eyed stare suggest a seasoned smoothie who has watched a lot more dirty water slosh under the bridge than any teenager could have witnessed." Nevertheless, Holden concludes "By discarding most of the theological debate [found in the book], the movie is no longer a passion play but a gritty and despairing noir. That’s good enough for me."