London to Brighton

Directed by Paul Andrew Williams, 2006.

• Locations/settings: working class apartments. Fields and countryside, as well as Brighton Beach contrast to the city shots and give a sense of freedom, refugee. Establishing shots in each sequence. Duncan's house is white, washed-out and almost clinical, making an impression of purity, although we know that Duncan isn't pure at all. Joanne's red lipstick and hoodie contrast with the whiteness and suggest something bad is going to happen.
• Narrative structure: woman's point-of-view. Throughout the film we get flashbacks and the story is pieced together. Almost till the end it's unclear what exactly has happened.
• Characterisation: Kelly's character is developed into a mother-like figure. Joanne is the one who changes lives, as she helps Kelly to see some hope and makes the tough guy Stuart realise they have something in common. As Duncan dies, Stuart is free from his control(shown with the ability to smoke again). Male gender is dominate.
• Ideology: hierarchy, the pyramids of life. Society is divided in three classes, where the upper class is in control of the other two. Entrapement is portrayed throughout the film and women are trying to escape. Working class enforced community - a sense that there is no way out. Exploitation - female prostitution. Violence towards women.
• Genre features: diegetic sounds. "Moonlight Sonata" when filming Duncan's house - the most important moment of the film. Most of the film is dark, but when Kelly and Joanne go to the Brighton beach, it becomes lighter. The film is more cinematic than "Bullet Boy" and "Sweet Sixteen", as it no longer reminds so much of a documentary. Wide screen is used to create powerful close-ups. Similar to "Bullet Boy" and "Sweet Sixteen" as there's a desperation to escape. All the films explore different parts of working class lives - prostitution, guncrime, violence, drugs.