Premiering in the Directors' Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival, "I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning" is Clio Barnard's adaptation of Keiran Goddard's acclaimed novel about five childhood friends from working-class Birmingham whose lives have drifted far from the futures they once imagined. "Peaky Blinders" actor Joe Cole stars as Rian – the one who escaped, made money and seemingly "made it", only to discover that success cannot free him from the place he came from.
Speaking to arts24's Eve Jackson on the Croisette, Barnard and Cole discuss Birmingham identity, modern masculinity, class divisions and the universal experience of mourning the life you thought you'd have by the age of 30.
