Brighton Rock(s)

Richard Attenborough as Pinkie and the recently deceased Carol Marsh as Rose, and 64 years or so later: Sam Riley (from Control) looks the part as the evil Pinkie and Andrea Riseborough plays Rose

1947s Brighton Rock was the first screen adaptation of the 1938 novel, it has since become a  British noir classic, but apparently the original was not good enough because it has recently been remade. The remake was envisioned a bit differently, the era has been moved out of the original 30s setting and into the 60s mod rocker scene, and it looks alright, not as bad as I imagined. Judging from the trailer, the look of it reminds me of the recent series of made for television Miss Marples, which isn't a good thing,but I guess I'll have to see!  i'll be watching this cynically though, that can't be helped. 
Sam Riley who plays Pinkie looks like a really good choice and hopefully he'll give a good performance, however instead of playing the role as a 17 year old boy he is 30, which is quite a stretch. And Helen Mirren plays Ida, the woman who comes to seek answers about her friends suspicious death, another great choice. I understand the original novel deals with quite a bit more than what we see in 1947 film, so I bet the newer version will cover what had to be left out due to censorship back in the 40s.


The original is an engaging look into crime, sin and morality in the seaside town of Brighton, at a time where their underbelly of crime and violence was rapid, between the two world wars. 
The 1st adaptation focuses on a small racecourse gang of local hoodlums and zeros in on the mob's leader, Pinkie Brown, at just seventeen he is the most sinister, sociopathic hood of them all. When Pinkie murders a journalist named Fred because he caused the death of his former mob boss its concluded that the cause of his death was natural. But not everyone thinks so, a woman named Ida was the last to see Fred alive and she suspects foul play so she heads the investigation into her friends sudden departure. Pinkie soon meets Rose, an innately good catholic, but painfully naive teenager who soon falls in love with the hoodlum. Pinkie keeps her around because she knows information about the murdered man and out of paranoia decides he'll have to marry her in exchange for an alibi. 
  
The ending is so utterly suspenseful, it's torture when you see the end for the first time, its an all round disturbing yet subtle top of the line gangster, film noir. 
Author Graham Greene wrote the original novel in 1938 and he wrote many other stories that were put on the screen, some are other noir favorites including The Third Man, Ministry of Fear and This Gun for Hire (A Gun for Sale). His stories tackled social and political problems of the 30s and 40s, and were masterly transferred onto the screen amongst the periods surge of noir thrillers. 
I just don't get why Brighton Rock'11 has to be set in the 1964, apart from looking hip on the scooters and in cool clothing, the story for me belongs where it was intended. I don't know the reason behind the update but it just seems pointless and out of place. Reviews so far have been mixed, and its yet to be released properly worldwide. 

Richard Attenborough as 17 yr old Pinkie, the embodiment of evil. Don't be fooled by his face :s

For me Richard Attenborough's Pinkie is one of the greatest noir villains, up there with Richard Widmark's treacherous hood  in Kiss of Death (also released in 1947). Attenborough, the baby faced actor(and not to mention director) seems the most superlative when he plays the role of the anti hero, loathsome psychopath, as in here and in 1971's 10 Rillington place, where he played the serial killer John Christie. 


The newly adapted Brighton Rock hits theatre's in Auckland (Particularly at the Capitol Cinema if you want quality viewing  - I should get paid over time for that lol) on May 19th. 
what's the verdict for those lucky enough to have already seen it?