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"The best British film this year... An outstanding, hard-hitting drama." — The Times
"It's audacious, exciting film-making" — The Guardian
LONDON TO BRIGHTON
April 2-9
Weds 9:15pm, Thurs 7:00pm, Fri 9:15pm, Sat 7:00pm, Sun 9:15pm, Mon 7:00pm, Tues 9:15pm, Weds 7:00pm
UK 2006 // Director: Paul Andrew Williams // 90 min // 35mm
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The most praised debut feature to come out of the UK in a decade, Paul Andrew Williams' gritty thriller reinvigorates a once popular genre by injecting it with stylish camerawork, great acting and a relentless pace.
"The British gangster-film genre has produced a number of highly satisfying movies over the years, from Mike Hodges's no-nonsense masterpieces, to the more kinetic and baroque work of Guy Ritchie. Using their urban settings to full effect, these films revel in idiosyncratic characters, providing us with a bevy of memorable lowlifes. London to Brighton is a very effective addition to this genre, playing nicely both with and against convention.
It starts with two women on the run: one middle-aged and bearing the bruises of a recent beating; the other a wide-eyed, terrified preteen. What led the two to flee occupies the film's first half; what transpires when their London-to-Brighton train reaches its destination anchors the second.
And what a story it is. The older woman, Kelly (Lorraine Stanley), is a prostitute working for Derek (Johnny Harris), a low-class pimp. Derek has been approached by a wealthy customer with a taste for underaged girls; desperate to satisfy this request, Derek calls Kelly for a lead. As it happens, she can help out, as she has just befriended a panhandling runaway. Semi-disgusted at what her life has become, Kelly nevertheless introduces the bewildered, eleven-year-old Joanne (Georgia Groome) to Derek. Sizing her up and pronouncing her fit for the job, he entices the youngster with the promise of easy cash. Eventually, the two women set off for the rendezvous.
This is only the beginning of the increasingly bizarre encounters driving this finely conceived film towards its conclusion.
Director Paul Andrew Williams has a feel for the gritty demimonde inhabited by his characters, each out for themselves, each somehow dependent on the others, all of them caught in a distasteful web of sleaze and corruption. It is when Kelly tries to break free of this sordid existence that the film raises itself above its conventions.
Williams keeps a tight rein on his material: no scene runs too long and his ability to sketch in a character pays fine dividends. Despite the grim reality into which it slices, there are many pleasures in London to Brighton - not least of which is a cast who ease into their respective roles with comfortable aplomb." —Piers Handling, TIFF '06
This critically acclaimed urban thriller has picked up the Jury prizes at both Dinard and Raindance, as well as winning Paul Andrew Williams the New Director award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. LONDON TO BRIGHTON has also been nominated for 3 British Independent Film Awards, including Best New Director.
LONDON TO BRIGHTON is the first feature film from Paul Andrew Williams. Paul began his career as an actor but in the last five years he has written and directed a number of successful pop-promos, viral ads and short films. In 2001 Paul wrote and directed the short film ROYALTY which would later inspire LONDON TO BRIGHTON. ROYALTY premiered at the London Film Festival in 2001, screened on UK television and was shortlisted for the Kodak showcase, consequently screening at BAFTA. In 2003 Paul was the only UK-based director to be picked up by the Fox Searchlight Director's Lab. His short film, It's Okay to Drink Whiskey, made through this programme, premiered at 2004's Sundance Film Festival. His UK TV debut, Naked, was pick of the day in Time Out and was well received by audiences and critics alike. Paul will next be directing THE COTTAGE, a relentless dark comedy / inept gangster / full-on horror film. Following that he will film WISDOM'S LAST LEGS, a bittersweet road movie with a dark twist.
"Paul Andrew Williams's debut film, London to Brighton, is the kind of movie that reminds you just how good British cinema can be." — The Scotsman
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