When I saw Rowan Joffe’s feature directorial debut (he’s directed two TV movies previously) Brighton Rock added to the Toronto International Film Festival line-up it was an exciting added bonus. I’m particularly interested in seeing Sam Riley in the latest adaptation of Graham Greene’s classic novel and also wonder just what kind of talent Andrea Riseborough (who replaced Carey Mulligan in the film) may shape out to be.
Riley stars as Pinkie, a small-town hood who marries Rose (Riseborough), a waitress who witnessed him murdering a rival thug in order to keep her quiet. As his gang begins to doubt his abilities, the man becomes more desperate and violent. The film is expected to go back to the original source material rather than the 1947 John Boulting-directed film for its inspiration, but it will be set in 1964 rather than the book’s original 1939.
Along with Riley and Riseborough, the film co-stars Helen Mirren, John Hurt and Pete Postlethwaite. This is actually one of three films Riseborough will be featured in at TIFF as she also stars in Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go and Made in Dagenham directed by Nigel Cole. Two-time Oscar nominated cinematographer John Mathieson (Gladiator and The Phantom of the Opera) is behind the camera.
Joffe adapted the script and is probably best known as 28 Weeks Later co-writer and also adapted the screenplay for Anton Corbijn’s The American, which hits theaters on September 1.
Featured above is one of the first three images I’ve just added to the RopeofSilicon gallery, you can click here to check out the rest.
