Brighton Rock: Blu Ray Review
Brighton Rock
Rating: R16
Released by Madman Home Entertainment
It's always hard to redo a film when another version exists that's deemed a
classic.
This version of Brighton Rock (based on
Graham Greene's 1939 novel) has had a few tweaks.
Set against a backdrop of unrest between the Mods vs Rockers scene,
the action takes place in Brighton; a Brighton of the sixties where gangs of
dissenting youth and mobsters roam the streets, taking to anything they don't
like with violence.
Pinkie (played with resentful
ferocity by Sam Riley) is one of those involved in a gang; he's more likely to
crack a skull than a smile - and he finds himself wrestling with power and greed
after he commits a murder.
Things get more
complicated when Rose (a stunning Andrea Riseborough) finds herself unwittingly
in the middle of evidence linking Pinkie's gang to the murder.
So Pinkie seduces the naïve Rose - as he tries to
ensure she doesn't talk...
But Rose's boss Ida (Helen Mirren)
knows something's not right - and soon finds herself embroiled in this tale of
gangland by the sea.
Brighton Rock is dark and
gloomy - both in tone and in lighting.
This story of shivs,
shingle and shocks may take a while to resonate with audiences - and many of the
older persuasion will take a lot to be convinced anyone can improve on Richard
Attenborough's performance.
In many ways, Pinkie's
supposed to be the archetypal anti-hero but he's very difficult to root for
(sample moment - he decides whether Rose loves him by pulling the legs off a
spider). He's cold, blessed with a permanent scowl, callous, ruthless and in Sam
Riley's hands, menacingly watchable.
Likewise
Andrea Riseborough's Rose is simply the soaraway success of this - brilliantly
fragile, stupidly naïve and yet endlessly optimistic, she sums up much of the
uncertainty of youth - and in the final scenes she will break your heart.
The problem with this Brighton Rock is it's a little
slow to get going; and with the darkness pervading the script as well as the
onscreen action, some may not be willing to give it the time to let it wash over
them and get engrossed.
Extras: A packed second
disc with makings of, commentary with director, interviews with the cast,
anatomy of a scene - a decent bunch for consumption
Rating: 6/10
At Darren's World of Entertainment - a movie, DVD and game review blog. The latest movie and DVD reviews - plus game reviews as well. And cool stuff thrown in when I see it.
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