Brighton Rock

this was very good, and i've watched it countless times despite its flaws. pinkie's character was very confusing. his cruelty and mixed emotions were sometimes bewildering, but i could understand rose's love and had sympathy for him. some of the writing had to be difficult, still the actors pulled it off. pinkie and rose reminded me of actors playing characters from old fashioned dramatic films, even how they kissed. sorry everyone did not enjoy the movie as much as i did. the actress and character of rose was endearing. Helen Mirren and Darrow's characters were too. that actual cliff had been unsafe. the construction manager had the edge extended and reinforced for the actors to stand where they did. the actors also were fitted with restraints to ensure safety. very sad a woman did try to suicide there during the making of this movie.

Graham Greene's 1938 novel about a sociopathic young British thug and his co-dependent girlfriend receives an uneven treatment in this modernized film adaptation. Solid acting (especially from Helen Mirren, Sam Riley, and Andrea Riseborough) goes a long way to making this low-budget indie feel more substantial than it deserves to be. But an updating of the plot to 1960s mod England contributes to a general feeling of cognitive dissonance, as surreal sequences overshadow period details in a story where nothing really seems to fit.The film looks gritty, but suffers from a lack of internal narrative logic in adapting Greene's material to the screen. Minor characters who initially seem important play no clear role in the story, but serve only to distract from the main events. On that score, Andy Serkis is just weird (neither menacing or particularly relevant to the plot) as Brighton's friendly local mob boss and John Hurt is wasted in a small role that constantly threatens to be more significant than it turns out to be. Maurice Roeves ("The Last of the Mohicans") shows up in a welcome role as the local police inspector, but vanishes after just one scene. Plotting is convoluted, with the initial murder sequence being introduced in a confused way and the motivations of characters (just why the heck does Mirren's restauranteur get so involved to the point of putting her own life at risk?) remaining sketchy at best throughout the proceedings. Mirren's part, despite being so integral to the film, feels particularly underwritten as we strive to understand how her character evolves from a cafe manager into an amateur detective who demands interviews with local mobsters. Without any context or background for her character, her behavior as a one-woman force for justice just comes across as bizarre.Rowan Joffe directs the flick with a taut contemporary feeling, bringing out some of the novel's religious overtones more than the classic 1947 film version that starred Richard Attenborough. Both spiritually and physically, he also makes some of the scenes more genuinely disturbing (Riley's lack of affect is genuinely creepy!) than the original movie, pushing an agnostic take on the material that is far more anti-Catholic than Greene's original work. However, the dated switchblade battles in mods-and-rockers trappings feel almost comical in comparison to contemporary film gun battles, providing a continual reminder that the stakes of this story are much lower than the movie wants to make them. And Joffe's agnostic take on the book's religious themes, alluding to them just enough to imply that Catholicism can make people crazy, leeches the story of Greene's religious debates which are so essential to the novel's nuanced-but-loving critique of his own faith. Greene helped script the 1947 film version of his novel, but he clearly had nothing to do with this one.Instead of a crime drama that explores deeper questions of religious morality, Joffe ultimately reduces Greene's richly complex novel to a ho-hum thriller with some religious trappings. There's nothing wrong with this approach except that it's not particularly involving. Like the 1999 film version of "The End of the Affair" with Ralph Fiennes, this version of "Brighton Rock" is a two-star production all the way, mixing flourishes of brilliant acting with cheap shots at Catholicism that strive too hard to make the material palatable to more contemporary secular sensibilities. A truly great 21st century film adaptation of Graham Greene's "Catholic novels" remains to be made.The DVD disc is unremarkable and includes no extra material. This 2010 film was later released by IFC in the United States to select theaters and direct-to-video in 2011. Originally a BBC Films co-production, it feels more like a movie of the week than a motion picture.

Classic Greene British Crime Novel Updated in this adaptation to the Mods & Rocker's riots of the 60's Brighton!Some Changes in the Story, But still an Engaging, Beautifully filmed, & Well Acted Film!4 stars, because I thought the character of "Fred Hale" was Miscast. Sean Harris, an Intense actor, was just Too young for that part & to be involved with Helen Mirren's "Ida"

A bit of a departure from the original. Advertized as a story set set in the 1960-s British Mod scene, the theme might have been explored a bit more. Acting is quite good. Nice camera work. Sadly, something special just isn't there.

I really liked this one. Too bad it was region B but I have a region free blu ray player so it worked fine but I have to hook it up to the screen and cannot play it on my computer. I wish they would make this one for the USA. I enjoyed it so much. Great story and wonderful acting.

If you are a Sam Riley fan he is really good in this movie (and evil!) you will like it. I also love Sean Harris who has a small, but great part in this. It is a very "60's" Mod and Rocker kind of film.

This is a very good movie, but an even better book by Graham Greene. Sticks to the storyline and well acted! Definitely worth the watch.

I was awaiting this film with great anticipation.It does deliver.It is a decent story with the historical background of the times.

Good film noir/crime/thriller about a young aspiring gangster named Pinkie. When an innocent young waitress named Rose stumbles on evidence linking Pinkie and his gang to a revenge killing. Pinkie seduces Rose, first to find out how much she knows then to ensure she will not talk to police. with Sam Riley, Andrea Riseborough, John Hurt and Helen Mirren. (2010, English and Français languages with respective subtitles. 1h 50 mins.).

pour ceus qui aiment les films et séries tv anglaises, il faut voir ce film car j'y ai trouvé en plus des images magnifiques. acteurs irreprochables, images magnifiques, histoire captivante, le tout à l'anglaise.

hi

Acheté pour l’ambiance sixties ModsMais sinon film très décevantPourtant tiré d’un bon bouquin mais l’ambiance de Brighton ne fait pas oublier l’ennui de l’histoire

Very good DVD