Brighton Rock on a lazy Sunday afternoon...

My husband had a lovely surprise from two of our close friends on Sunday.  As a birthday present they had bought my husband tickets for Brighton Rock at the Duke of York's Picturehouse,  and offered to baby-sit our little girl, Molly. I had somehow managed to keep this from my husband all week, which was extremely  difficult as I have been so excited about Rowan Joffe's 60's-set reworking of Graham Greene's classic noir novel. We had even witnessed the new Pinky (Sam Riley) and Rose (Andrea Riseborough) being filmed for  parts of Brighton Rock outside the Royal Pavilion last Autumn. On Sunday, Pete was delighted when he found out our plans for the day and we slowly made our  way to Duke of York's. On turning up, we were so happy we had pre-booked tickets as all viewings for the day had sold out and unfortunately there were no two seats left together. We were fine with this, after all we were there to watch a film and not natter!

Graham Greene's novel is set in Brighton but Joffe has filmed the newest addition of Brighton Rock in Eastbourne, with parts of Brighton's lanes and Royal Pavilion still very recognizable. I do understand why Joffe has chosen to do this as I can imagine Eastbourne now is probably what Brighton would have looked like back in the Sixties. Brighton can have dark undertones and Joffe showed this well.

Andrea Riseborough (Made in Dagenham) played Rose perfectly.  You really feel for her character as it was more Rose's story and not Pinkys this time, which added an emotional charge to the film.  Helen Mirren played a strong, assertive and feminist version of Ida. This was perfect for the 1960s as the modern woman hadn't arrived yet but was well on her way. 

Overall I recommend that you go and see Brighton Rock, especially if you are from the Eastbourne and Brighton area. It's great for location spotting, but not only that, it is a great new adaptation of Graham Greene's novel. Go and see it for your self and tell me what you think!

 

What I Wore  

Vintage Brogues - Vintage Fair

Short Jacket - Topshop

Vintage Leather Satchel - Starfish

Vintage Pencil Skirt - Belonged to my mother

1950s Faux Fur Hat - Vintage Fair

We decided to go and have a drink after the film  to discuss what we thought over a nice long drink and went to a pub that we haven't visited in a long time, The Greys on Southover Street. When Pete and I started dating it was one of our locals we liked to visit when we lived on St James Street. Unfortunately after moving to Hove and having a little girl we don't get to visit that often, so today was a real treat. This place is truly fabulous. If you haven't been... GO! They have wonderful live music on most evenings and a large selection of Belgian beers. What more could you ask for? Pete and I then finished our lazy afternoon with a very windy stroll along the beach and a final pit stop at The Bee's Mouth for some fine Asahi. Yummy! Perfect end to a horrible week.

Images taken by Jennie & Peter Davies apart from the image of Rose & Pinky (courtesy of Google Images). 

Video courtesy of YouTube.