Brighton Rock (2010) opening sequence analysis

Brighton Rock is a gangster thriller denoted by the gang/mob fights, the knives, the long coates and hats, and the story-line. The opening sequence's titles (production and funding) are over black however the diegetic asynchronous score begins over these titles with the sound effects of the sea and the rain. There is pleonastic sound of boats when the titles of some of the actors/producers come in which creates tension as the sound is very low pitches and denotes the sea through the boat setting the scene of the sequence. The rain is a pathetic fallacy for the movie as it predicts that something bad has or will happen as it creates unease in the audience. The first scene is of the sea just like the score/sound effects denoted however due to the darkness it denotes the night which is a connotation for danger and vulnerability creating suspense and tension especially with the asynchronous non diegetic low toned score. When the sequence cuts to a scene of the camera zooming slowly into a telephone ringing denoted by the synchronous diegetic sound of the phone ringing, it is an enigma as it raises the questions of who could be calling at night? and why is there no one answering? The setting around the phone is very run down and rough denoted by the wall paper ripping off the walls and the low key lighting adding suspense to the sequence as it shows whoever is involved won't be good news.

The cross cutting between the telephone ringing and the male character ringing the telephone creates a sense of urgency, which is a connotation for the thriller genre. The male character is clearly part of a mob or is a "gangster" denoted by his long coat, his hat and the fact that he is out in the night by himself. The location of the male character in the phone booth is misty and abandoned which again creates tension and suspense as well as urgency as being alone at night is dangerous and creates unease in the audience as they can relate to the feeling of vulnerability at night. Long shots of the silhouettes of two men coming towards the male character in the phone booth are used to connote danger and the fact that the man ringing doesn't have much time however is also an enigma as is raises the questions of who are they? What do they want with the man? What has he done? A lot of slow paced editing is used as well as long shots of the men running after the first male character to show urgency and to show just how close to death he is. When it comes to the gang fight scene close ups and cross cutting is used to intensify the scene and create tension once the weapons are shown. This all connotes the thriller genre.