Brighton has always been a town where cultures clash and blended blood runs in the gutters. Graham Greene's 1938 novel Brighton Rock, and the gothic-tinged 1947 film which was based on it, flagged up the Catholic roots of the razor mobs involved in racketeering on the local racecourses in the 1930s and 1940s. British director Rowan Joffe's forthcoming adaptation centres on the more recent gangs who fought for control of the Saturday night streets in the 1960s.
The new film sees Sam Riley (Control) as Pinkie, the ruthless youth set on a gangland career who commits murder in a vengeful attack. In the interest of cheating the gallows, he is forced to marry a local waitress, Rose, who has stumbled on evidence linking him to the crime and could hold the clue to his capture by police.
Crucially, Joffe sets the story in 1964, a year in which the younger mods were increasingly coming into contact with older, more conservative rockers, mirroring Pinkie's own callow ambition. It was also the last year of hanging in Britain, meaning that the spectre of death sits above the stylish yet brutal young man's head like a menacing cloud. Can he trust his naive new wife to keep his secret, and can she trust him not to take the easy option and put her out of the picture altogether?
The film debuted last year at the Toronto Film Festival, where the Guardian's David Cox praised it as a masterpiece to match that of the Boulting brothers' 1947 adaptation of the British noir classic, picking out Andrea Riseborough's "breathtaking" turn as Rose for particular praise.
"Her portrayal of Rose grips the heart from the beginning and does not let go until the final frame," he wrote. "In the process, it turns the film into a hymn to female suffering, passion, dedication and delusion. Cinema has been here before often enough, but rarely more impressively."
Bafta-winning director Joffe told reporters at the festival he had decided to shift the action to the 1960s to make a distinct break with the earlier film.
"That ground had already been covered," he said. "I needed to ask myself: 'What am I bringing to the equation that makes the adaptation worthwhile?' And what 1964 did was bring something contemporary. It set the story of a young gangster against the backdrop of youth rebellion, which seemed to enrich the arc of his story. It was the last year of the death sentence, and it was also the year of great gangster movies, and in a sense this is an homage to that."
Oscar-winner Helen Mirren plays Ida, the manager of a tea shop who becomes involved in Pinkie's story. She cited an ongoing affection for Brighton's seedy grandeur fostered by a youthful sojourn in the town as the reason she signed on the dotted line.
"I actually worked as a waitress in my aunt's bed and breakfast hotel [in Brighton], so I know Brighton pretty well. It's a beautiful city and it's got its own specific character. I thought to place the story in that period in Brighton was a brilliant idea."
With a supporting cast that includes Academy Award nominee John Hurt as Phil Corkery, as well as Lord of the Rings' Andy Serkis, the arrival of Joffe's taut thriller in cinemas is a major event in the 2011 UK film diary. Come 4 February, the seaside city's streets and piers will ring with the cry of murder once again. The times may have changed, but like the confection from which it takes its name, Brighton Rock runs the same, all the way to its dark core.
Brighton Rock will be showing in UK cinemas from 4 February.
