Brighton Rock - Q & A with writer/director Rowan Joffe

So I went to a BBC Q&A with Rowan Joffe yesterday, writer/director of the upcoming Brighton Rock. Rowan talked first about Brighton Rock and then went on to make some more general points about writing, directing and the business.

Asked why his production of Brighton was set in the sixties - and why remake it in the first place - he said the book Brighton Rock was a classic of British literature and why shouldn't there be more than one production of it? (as with Shakespeare, for example).

However, he obviously didn't want to go up against the classic Attenborough 1939 version, and thought that a contemporary setting would run into character problems - namely finding someone as naive and innocent as Rose in today's saturated media environment would be incredible.

So he decided to set it in the 1960's, namely 1964. This chimed with the theme of youth supplanting the older generation in the book, as youth society then was rebelling and respect for institutions such as the church and government were collapsing. A time of change.

Also the aspect of "cool" that accompanies the sixties, along with the opportunity to make a fantabulous soundtrack didn't put off the producers apparently. Don’t underestimate this “cool” aspect, but also don’t let it direct the story in any way – story is that most important.

On that fundamental issue of story, Rowan realised, after analysing the book, that it was not a story about a gangster on the make, but rather a love story. A quick synopsis in case you’re not familiar with the tale.

Pinky is a viscous little psycho who almost singlehandedly wipes out the established gangster hierarchy in Brighton, but is seen committing one of the murders by innocent country girl Rose. However, instead of killing her as the reader expects, he decides to woe her, linking them in a perverse and almost a sadistic relationship. Ultimately he marries her…and that’s as much as I can remember (I read it years ago)

Rowan's take on this is that it was not a gangster film but a love story. He mentioned that Greene, when deciding to write about a virtue - love in this case - decided to examine it from it's exact opposite - hate. And there is much about Pinky that is hateful.

This was a method Greene was apparently very fond of. It's an inspired way to contemplate a subject. One explores a subject through it’s absence – the shadow it leaves or the whole it can’t fill. The yin yang symbol flashes to my mind here, two opposites only existing because of and in spite of each other. Without each other they can’t exist, though they are locked in constant conflict. Indeed, they define each other and bring each other into existence.

Yey, I'm a secret hippy.

That was about it on Brighton Rock, but he littered the talk with some great advice. Some snippets:

• Scenes need to add up to images to attract a good director
• The script should be the vessel for the best ideas of the people on the film - don't be precious about it.
• As a writer and director understand the story and you'll be open to new, good ideas. Don't understand the story and you'll panic and make the wrong decision.
• You need to play and experiment and fail - and that is allowed in TV land, but not at all in film.
• You can never get the brilliance that is in your head fully onto the page. If you think you have, then you're wrong.
• Have a writing structure (eg 9-5) as professionals have to write to order, not when they feel like it. But saying that, if you’re inspired, carry on.
• Writer's Block doesn’t exist -it's an excuse, fear, laziness, the internal editor. You can always write something - even if it's just a to kill list – and once you've done that, then you should be clear to start on the proper job.
• It's much harder to write originally than to adapt - though even with adaptation you encounter unique problems
• It's a vocation. Only write if you have to.
• Failure is the greatest way to learn.

He also talked at length about being a writer/director and the types of skills they involved. Both are very different obviously, but at heart the same absolute directive applies - put Story above anything else.

Directors need social skills to bring out the best in actors, and need to be able to play the political game of the industry, to navigate the media to one's advantage. They are like the managers of football teams - it's all in the planning and preparation - in effect, once that's done the film could conceivably be shot without them being present.

He also talked a bit about formatting screenplays - how they look, the white on the page. While it is good to keep dialogue and action paragraphs spare and lean, be careful of being too ambiguous - you have to hit just the right level of showing the story while not alienating the reader with big clunky paragraphs - and bear in mind your audience, which at the first hurdle will be overworked, underpaid script readers.

One way to try to evaluate what you've written is to imagine that your screenplay has been written by the most obnoxious, vain, arrogant idiot you can conceive - one who you want to tear apart. If you still like the script then, you might be onto a winner.

Well, hope these little notes of wisdom and insight help ya. Rowan came across as very pleasant, down to earth guys. I’ll certainly go see the film.

It's out in cinemas from 4th February.
Cheerio!