Out at the end of this month on DVD from Momentum Pictures, is acclaimed film London To Brighton, from new British writer/director Paul ANDREW Williams. This movie tells the tale of two women; Kelly a prostitute and Joanne a very young run away. The movie begins with their train journey to Brighton and we can see from their faces that they have endured something quite terrifying. As the movie progresses, we slowly learn of their pasts and we begin to piece together an explanation of their current situation by use of well-placed and well-paced flashbacks.
The film is full of suspense and by dropping us, the viewer, into the middle of an unresolved situation, it heightens the tension and desire to learn what has happened to these women to make them so afraid. Georgia Groome, a 13-year-old actress, plays the part of Joanne and her ability to portray a young girl in this kind of situation is quite unsettling. The use of hand held filming, adds to the tension by lending itself to the suggestion that it is a documentary.
The acting is superb and is consistently emotive and challenging to the viewer. It makes the film quite uncomfortable to watch at points, as you can’t help but be drawn into this unknown underbelly of London life, through the uncompromising realism.
I met with the director at a screening in London and was surprised quite how humble he is about the films huge success. Williams strikes me as a very down to earth man who wanted to tell a very simple, straightforward story. Rather surprisingly he informed me that it took him only a weekend to write the entire script, which heralds a man with a very strong vision of what he wanted from the start. He self financed the majority of the movie himself, by calling in favours and he then approached the London Film Council to help him in the film’s final stages.
It is nice to see directors who are so passionate about what they do and so driven that they cannot wait to get out there and make their movie. It is inspiring to see such success come from one man’s dream and determination.
This is a movie that has won a plethora of awards and has been critically applauded by anyone who has watched it or indeed travelled on the London To Brighton line. As it provides an intense yet, captivating distraction from the fact that the train probably isn’t moving.
This film is definitely not one to miss, we here at Rockjaw think you should definitely purchase this, as although it is disturbing at points to watch, it contains within it the underlying message that what goes around comes around. And we like that.
London to Brighton is out on the 30th April. The Rockjaw Rating: TICKETS PLEASE!!