Brighton Rock Review: We Are The Mobs

Are you Mod or Rocker? If you were a teenager in the UK during the early sixties, chances are you knew exactly how to answer that question and were part of the first youth culture movement in history. The Mods- Soul singing, style conscious, scooter riding, and pill popping night owls; The Rockers- Rock N’ Roll slinging, motorcycle racing, pomade slathering outcasts. These two groups defined the era and represented the first time teenagers came into their own, defining themselves by what they were most passionate about. It all came to a head in 1964 when, over a long bank holiday on the shores of Brighton Beach, the Mods and Rockers rioted against each other as well as the sleepy seaside town, instantly making headlines across the country. This is the world of Brighton Rock, a subtle and challenging gangster crime potboiler set against the backdrop of Brighton Beach on that fateful holiday weekend.

Sam Riley, who so remarkably and painfully brought back to life Ian Curtis in Control, plays Pinky, hired muscle and right hand man in a small time protection mob who are battling with crime boss Colleoni (Andy Serkis) for territorial control over the town of Brighton. Pinky is an absolute sociopath, a young Scarface in training; he wants the world and is willing to start with Brighton, but not before taking control away from his own gang leader, Spicer. Preventing him from gaining total ownership of the gang is bookish waitress Rose (Andrea Risborough) who is unknowingly photographed with a man whom Pinky murdered not long after the photo was taken. Rose is a loose end that needs to be nixed, but Pinky sees a beauty in Rose that no one else does. She warms his soulless black heart and in the end, he just can’t seem to do her in and instead, begins to court her as best he knows how, by taking the piss out of her whenever he can. For Rose, this is the only boy that has ever expressed any sort of interest in her and she falls for his charade hook, line, and sinker.

In fact, the only other person to show real consideration towards Rose is Ida (Helen Mirren), the owner of the tea cafe she works at. Ida knows that Pinky is bad news and will stop at nothing to sort him out, with the help of local businessman Phil Corkery (John Hurt) who is at his wits’ end dealing with Pinky’s gang. Pinky, meanwhile, decides that the only way he can truly keep an eye on Rose is to marry her despite the resentment that is festering just below the surface, which finally boils over in a soul crushing scene that has Pinky making a record for Rose in a sound proof booth, where he venomously spews his hatred for her. While Pinky deals with Rose, he also conspires how to take Spicer out of the equation with the help of the rest of the gang as well as Colleoni. Of course, you can never trust a gangster and the whole bloody affair comes to a head during the Brighton Beach riots between the Mods and Rockers in a captivating blend of history and fiction.

Brighton Rock is not a friendly film. It’s the kind of picture that is filled with unlikable bastards and the one innocent is also the one that bears the brunt of the anger and violence. To have Pinky, the antagonist of the novel, become the main character of this adaptation is a bold choice- one that will instantly isolate many an audience member simply because you cannot root for him. You don’t want to. He is a vicious fuck whose only joy in life is the misery of others and, if by his hand, all the better. In that sense, it is a classic gangster movie in the spirit of the original Scarface and White Heat; with a dark fascination as twisted as Pinky himself, you’re watching in a way, simply to see how the gangster in question is going to meet his demise. At its worst, the film is uneven- juggling more plot threads, story arcs and characters than it or writer/director Rowan Joffe can handle. It often bounces around so much and without a clever rhythm that it’s difficult to remember what a given scene is referencing or what has come before it in its associated plot line. At its best, Brighton Rock is a precisely executed downward spiral of crime and punishment. Its staging of the Mods vs Rockers riots are second to none (one dramatic photo of the actual riot, showing a Rocker with the words “Mod Crusher” on his jacket getting pushed over the edge of the pier by a group of Mods, has been recreated to the letter) and the climactic finale, set against the sharp cliff faces of Brighton echoes the distant spirit of the closing moments of Quadrophenia, another Mod classic. The talents of Helen Mirren and John Hurt may be underused, but when they appear, they shine. Andrea Risborough does well with a difficult character, so blinded by what she thinks is love that she stupidly can’t see the forest for the trees, or maybe she just doesn’t want to.

Brighton Rock is not perfect, but it is perfect in its own demented way. The sheer suspense of watching Sam Riley, having absolutely no clue how he is going to react to any moment, is worth a view in and of itself. Let’s all be glad, then, that Pinky is neither Mod nor Rocker.

 

Images courtesy of IMDbPro

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