As a first-timer at the London Film Festival mystery film I was probably the most excited person in the auditorium at the Vue in Leicester Square. Still harbouring a faint notion that it might be The Tempest, even though most seasoned mystery-film goers I know had said it was highly unlikely, I settled down to wait for the film to start.
Some people prepare, do a bit of research into which companies have got films coming up for release. The order of the evening dictates that you get a chance to show off your detective skills. Sandra Hebron, artistic director of the festival says a few words (there isn't a great deal she can say without mentioning the film, anyone in it or involved with it) and then asks the audience which film they think it might be.
Harry Potter was one suggestion which got rather a laugh and me transferring my faint hope away from The Tempest and onto my favourite boy wizard.
Then we were told that the film had been considered for the festival and would have been a gala screening, had it been shown and now we were getting to see its European premiere. Excitement goes through the audience.
The lights go down the curtains draw back and the credits roll. Various murmours go around the audience as the film makers details appear. It is a British Film because of the Film Council's and BBC's involvement, so that narrows it down. Fortunately the title Brighton Rock appears fairly early on to put us out of misery. Several people had suggested it and a collective cheer goes up.
It's definitely on my list so I cheered too. I've never seen the original Graham Greene/Terrence Rattigan penned film but I read Greene's book only a couple of years ago. And I have to say that in the main Rowan Joffe who directed and wrote the screenplay has done a pretty good job.
Of course things have been changed. It's been updated to 1964 when mods and rockers faced off (cue some great shots of gangs of mods on scooters riding along the seafront) and the story and characters have naturally been slimmed down to make it a suitable film length.
The book opens with the line:
'Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him'
It creates a sinister undercurrent of violence that give the book its tension throughout. And Joffe has recreated that tension on the big screen. After the first violent scene, danger and threat never seems more that a moment away as Pinkie, determined to make it as gang leader and a name for himself, takes ever more extreme measures to cover up his crimes.
Then there is Andy Serkis who plays big time gangster Colleoni in a way that shows just a hint of the merciless villain underneath the charming veneer.
But the stand out performance for me was Andrea Riseborough as Rose. Stripped of make up she plays Rose with such convincing wide-eyed naivete.
Fans of the book, and I count myself one, may be unsatisfied with Joffe's take on the ending* of the novel but the atmosphere and acting in the rest of the film makes up for it. The chill of this one stayed with me all the way home.
*Joffe came in at the end to answer questions and seemed more than a little prepared for a negative reaction to his ending. The man that asked the question obviously wasn't too pleased and I must admit I wasn't convinced by his answer but it would be too big a spoiler to reveal what he said. Am happy to tell people if they ask.
Can't find a trailer as yet, or a release date...
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