Colin Diamond is a total wreck because his wife has just confessed she is leaving him for a Frenchman half his age.

Unfortunately for the young lover, Colin is not a submissive character, but rather an East London gangster with a bunch of loyal friends ripe for a fight who resort to kidnapping the 'beau' and giving him hell. That is the premise of 44 Inch Chest – the debut film by commercials director and photographer Malcolm Venville – taking a look at masculinity today, as well as the contrast between the traditional and the contemporary understanding of manhood.

Bittersweet Revenge

Shot between Elstree Studios and a series of locations across London, the film follows Colin (Ray Winstone, Beowulf) and his gang: Old Man Peanut (John Hurt, The Elephant Man), Archie (Tom Wilkinson, RocknRolla), Meredith (Ian McShane, Lovejoy) and Mal (Stephen Dillane, Savage Grace) in their avenging spree against ‘Loverboy’ (Melvil Poupaud, Speed Racer). Colin’s wife is played by Joanne Whalley (Scarlett).

When the five men drag ‘Loverboy’ to a derelict London house, Colin must come to terms with the  pain of his situation and decide if and how he will go about restoring his wounded ego. “Colin is a big strong man and yet we’re going to see him go through the gamut of emotions, from grief to rage, melancholy, delusion and gargantuan self pity” remarks producer Richard Brown. “It’s fascinating, the scale, the dimension of the part; it’s an emotional tour de force.”

44 Inch Chest paints a picture of an almost extinct breed of male characters. “The men in this story haven’t changed or can’t change, even though the world has changed around them,” explains Brown. Ian McShane, who plays Meredith, adds: “You’ve got Peanut, who represents the old ways, with his fire and brimstone kind of vengeance. His wife is at home, where she belongs. Archie’s a loyal friend, wants to fit in, but still lives at home with his mother. Mal is malignant and malicious, the one who’s not afraid to do the violence. He’s like a professional fouler. Meredith is gay - a control freak who has arranged the world around him to avoid any entanglements or complication, an eternal hedonist.”

The result is a night of terror for the Frenchman – will he or will he not be executed? – inevitably charged with tension and violence. However, this is carefully balanced with moments of surprising tenderness, as throughout the process Colin expels his thoughts on love and commitment.

Looking Tough

Originally intended as a theatre play, the script is penned by Louis Mellis and David Scinto - who are also responsible for the crude lines from Sexy Beast, the critically-acclaimed gangster flick from 2000, also starring Winstone. Similar to their previous work, 44 Inch Chest does not shy away from lewd and even profane language in the name of realism and depth.

Talking of Mellis and Scinto’s work, Winstone said: “They write love stories in many ways, and in some ways that’s what this film is. Honestly, it’s hard to put this into a specific category”. Co-star Ian McShane echoes this sentiment - “[the film] is about love, about how people deal with love, jealousy, pain, and sexuality. It’s the same thing that makes Sexy Beast work.”

As the writing duo bring such accredited strength to the script, first time feature director Malcolm Venville was keen to find the visual packaging that would do the story justice.

London was used as the main backdrop for the turbulent tale. Locations across the capital were sourced by the film’s location manager, David Broder, with the assistance of Film London. He comments: “The locations in 44 Inch Chest were very carefully chosen to portray a London that still exists, but is changing around the central characters that perhaps belong to a different age.

"Malcolm Venville the director likes to set atmosphere with static frames and I searched for areas and glimpses of London that had the brooding atmosphere that we were after. The key exterior is the gang's base and that was found in Bow near the Blackwall Tunnel. We also set scenes in Petticoat Lane, Southwark and Bermondsey. Areas of Knightsbridge and the West End were also used as a contrast - a casino at 50 St James; Papillon, an atmospheric French restaurant in Brompton Cross; and the Nash terraces in Regent's Park."

Choices were made to portray a capital in transition and were informed by Venville’s clear brief: “For me the biggest challenge was giving the film the right look and feel. I didn’t want just a series of photographs, showing people talking…I wanted to make it look more complex than just a kitchen sink drama”, the director explains.

44 Inch Chest premiered at The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival last October and took part in Film London’s London UK Film Focus in June 2009. The film goes on nationwide release on 15 January.