Lindsay Andersons superb, brutal and deep debut.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34882 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-08-22
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Black & White, Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 93 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Prolific British filmmaker Lindsay Anderson weaves this small, evocative tale of young life at the crossroads in early 1960s Northern England. A rough, sullen young man (Richard Harris) working in the local coal mines begins to make a name for himself as a star rugby player, but even as he begins to fall in love he cannot escape the harsh realities of the bleak life around him. The rugby sequences in the film are striking, but no more so than the depiction of downtrodden people living in the shadow of industry and corruption that too often crushes their spirit. Harris in one of his first roles, is remarkably effective as an unlikeable but sympathetic figure trying against hope to savour the small joys life has to offer, and the film also features the debut of renowned actress Glenda Jackson. One of a series of working-class, character-driven British imports, This Sporting Life is one of the best on the field. --Robert Lane

Special Features
4:3 Full Frame
DVD 5
English
English
Region 2
Mono English
Mono
Interactive Menus
Scene Access

Synopsis
The landlady of a ruthless rugby player succumbs to his amorous advances, but there is no joy in the outcome.

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Customer Reviews

"This Sporting Life" improves with time.
"This Sporting Life" remains a cornerstone of British cinema. Lindsay Anderson's remarkable understanding of the original source material echoes with the political turmoil of the early sixties at the same time as it reminds us that the British New Wave was its own voice. Contrary to critics of the period who denounced this film as derivative of nouvelle vague filmmaking, Anderson and his remarkable team shot the world of class and culture as none had done before. The ragged use of black and white, coupled with a lack of slickness that only compunds the reality of the piece, places us squarely in the squalid and often gritty world of men's locker rooms, desperately lonely rowhouses and heartless luxury. Richard Harris creates a character achingly out of reach of his own emotions and thoughts and Rachel Roberts succeeds as the widow who, sadly, knows nothing but emptiness and tragedy. Both of these actors do the finest work of their careers and they are supported by a quietly powerful ensemble that helps to explain why this period in British filmmaking continues to resonate.

It's cliched up north
Lindsay Anderson's This Sporting Life now seems more a mishmash of influences than an enduring classic. There's a very strong influence from Truffaut's 400 Blows, a dash of the British Free Cinema movement and a lot of melodramatic kitchen sink `realism,' while the accents are all over the place - set in Wakefield, Yorkshire, the accents veer from Ireland, Wales and all points north. The flashback structure now seems too forced a device to really allow you into the story for far too much of the running time, although the sledgehammer subtly of Roberto Gerhard's crashingly over-the-top monotonal avant-garde score doesn't help by constantly overstating the it's-grim-oop-north clichés as Greek tragedy.

Richard Harris' Frank Machin is very much in the angry-young-man mould of the day - if anything he manages to be more unpleasant than Saturday Night and Sunday Morning's Arthur Seaton and Look Back in Anger's Jimmy Porter combined, an inarticulate brute who thinks he can bulldoze his way to Rugby success (he can) and into landlady Rachel Roberts' heart (he can't, but it's hard to see why he'd want to), so naturally he's heading for a pre-ordained fall. Which, seen today, is part of the problem. The film follows the classic formula of all the kitchen sink films of the day, culminating in what can either be seen as the victory of the system or the triumph of the old moral censorship code - that such characters must always be seen to be punished or to repent. No surprises, not much impact but a surprisingly decent cast. No extras on the DVD either, but a reasonable transfer.

This Sporting Life
Uncompromising, claustrophobic, grubby, pitiless, deadly - this film succeeds in describing the essence of the industrial North before the winds of social change emanating from Swinging London really started to make themselves felt. It is almostly certainly cinema's most 'honest' portrayal of the British working-class milieu in the early-'sixties. For this reason alone it is well worth seeing, but it also features fine acting performances, not only from the two leads, but also from a surprisingly strong supporting cast, which includes a number of household names from the era.

One word of caution concerning this particular presentation: whether due to the original mono soundtrack or the DVD manufacturers/distributors, the audio is poor throughout the film and dialogue occasionally difficult to follow. Subtitles are however provided.