Certainly one of the most interesting and curious films this year (its erratic narrative probably has something to do with that). Debut filmmaker Rowan Joffe’s (son of the legendary Roland Joffe of The Mission fame) contemporary adaptation of the surly Graham Greene classic of the same name makes for a hypnotic film experience from start to finish. It’s an extremely stylish film that manages to merge a classic tale of blind faith with a thoroughly modern sense of aesthetic, thus rising above its old-fashioned source material.
Young It Brit actor Sam Riley (Control) takes on the anti-hero role of Pinky, a minor knife-wielding crook in the resort town of Brighton in 1964. Not satisfied with being a low-ranking member of a third-rate gang, he decides to first take over the leadership of his group of mismatched thugs, then wage war against a big-time criminal establishment led by the ruthless Mr. Colleoni (Andy Serkis).
Pinky is readying himself for hell, but he's a little surprised at how quickly he gets to visit Ida (Helen Mirren), especially after his first blunder of killing the lover of a vengeful restaurant owner. He then threatens the life of a bar owner, Phil Corkey (John Hurt), making him pay for protection. Add a lovesick waitress Rose (newcomer Andrea Riseborough) into the mix, the sole witness to his first murder, and you have a rather melodramatic tale of absolute evil, delusional love and blind faith all engulfed in a dreamlike, moody, Hitchcockian landscape.
Riley may be a little slight as the notorious Pinky, but he still packs a malevolent punch and imbues his role with appropriate old school gentlemanly chicness, especially during his scenes with the outstanding Riseborough, whose calculated fragility and strong-mindedness is just brilliant. But the real star of the show is its look and feel: Cinematographer John Mathieson (Gladiator) shoots the film as if it is a music video, and it really works. The cleverly-placed shadow effects and picturesque setting filled with foreboding, crashing waves more than match the film’s dark undertones, and the whole thing comes replete with a loud, transcendental choral score that will truly suck you into its proceedings.