In 2001, Paul Andrew Williams wrote and directed a short film, entitled, "Royalty". He has expanded on the story and now brings us the full length feature, "London to Brighton". The major parts of the original cast remain intact, although some have assumed new roles this time around.
The setting is, as one might suspect, London and Brighton, and the look and feel is one of coldness, and darkness, both in the look of the film and inside the souls of the main players. There are absolutely no good guys here. Everyone is a shade of evil, except for a young girl who can at least partly be considered an innocent.
The story opens in a dank, public toilet. Is there any other kind? Kelly (Lorraine Stanley) is a streetwalker in her twenties who has clearly taken a recent beating. With her is a young runaway girl, Joane (Georgia Groome). Both are in a panic and we can tell that their panic is justified. They are on the run from a low-level pimp named Derek (Johnny Harris).
Williams tells the plight of the young women by bouncing back and forth between the present and the past, and after some initial confusion, it plays out logically and forcefully. Williams reveals what has happened in drips and drabs so that the audience remains thirsty throughout to find out exactly what is going on and what has already happened.
By the time we understand everything that has led up to where the young ladies find themselves we are locked in to the proceedings and we are at the climax of the film. Williams manipulates us beautifully without our being conscious of it, or at least without our minding it at all.
Moral ambiguity is the ultimate winner here. As I wrote earlier, there are no total innocents in "London to Brighton". All of the players are engaged in a lifestyle at least somewhat of their own choosing that ranges from seamy to cutthroat. Williams offers neither sympathy nor empathy for anyone. He treats the audience as an observer of events that we all would hope to never witness or experience firsthand. Because he does this efficiently, when the curtain rises, more than likely, you will find yourself reacting in silence to the ending. At the screening I attended, everyone remained seated quietly as the credits began to roll, before gathering up their belongings and heading outside to a far better world than we had just caught a glimpse into.
