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Rating:  - A prayer for the wild at heart kept in cages
This here half forgotten 1962 masterpiece, shot in gorgeous B&W, is a trad gem worth discovering again. "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" was one of the key "angry young man films" of its era, but its raw power & stark beauty still resonate today.
The wonderful Tom Courtenay plays the title character, Colin Smith, a working class kid whose life is up the junction & then some. Following a string of petty crimes, Colin is thrown in the clink - British reform school - only to have the penitentiary wankers coddle him, as they are banking on Colin's athletic prowess to win a cross country race against a prestigious school. However, our noble laddie has different plans altogether:
"I'm going to let them think they have me house trained, but they never will, the [...]. To get me beat they'll have to stick a rope around my neck."
A timeless work of art & an ending that is indeed one of cinema's greatest moments, I cannot recommend it enough. So go seek this film out, hitch hike a ride if you have to, punch a guy in a Prada suit, I don't care...just get yer mitts on it, buddy.
Rating:  - weaker character, weaker storytelling
i saw this movie in high school, and they asked us why it ends the way it does. it wasn't at all clear to me why it ended that way. only reading the story gave me the answer to that, and there was no ambiguity about it. in the movie the ending doesn't seem to be supported by the action we've seen.
a good movie has to make a strong appeal to reality with the plot. it has to be true to the way people genuinely behave, or the story has no meaning. unless it's intentionally absurd or obscurant or comedic, which this story most definitely isn't.
in the movie the character is less angry and less of a deviant, he has feelings of guilt and defeat where the original character is much too tough and too hardened to have such feelings. and the movie has a lighter tone than the story. so it makes its points much more weakly, if at all, than it should.
the character in the movie voices very, very little of the harsh philosophy of the character in the short story, and on balance the movie fails to achieve a satisfactory effect. the movie's conclusion doesn't have the feeling of inevitability and reality because the character is so watered down. i suspect that it had to be watered down because the film board felt a realistic adaptation would be too antisocial.
Rating: - The Emptiness of the Working Class Future
Tony Richardson and Allan Sillitoe have combined again for another great movie about the British working class. The trouble with this and other such movies about this subject is the emptiness it conveys. Growing up in America is decidedly different although there will be many who would dispute that. However, what comes across clearly in movies such as this, "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning", "Look Back in Anger" and others is that there is no hope for the young working class to raise their status. It's the factory line or the unemployment line and the disdain of those who seek more out of life is its' own punishment. The case of Tom Courtney's character is an example of a young man with little options. He eventually discovers (as did the Richard Harris character in "This Sporting Life") that success in sports (at least in the 1960's) did not provide a bridge to crossover. The movie ends intentionally akwardly as our anti-hero realizes the futility of efforts. Along the way, we are treated to an outstanding combination of writing, acting, directing, and film editing. This is a classic movie of its' genre but it is a genre that leaves one empty.
One note about the music; I recognized the tune that kept appearing in the film. I eventually connected it to a haunting piece that I had heard before in "Chariots of Fire" (talk about the opposite side of the tracks!). No, it wasn't THE tune from "Chariots" but I tried to find the title to the tune which emerged vocally as the reform school's song but was unable to with the limited credits. I wondered whether or not the producers of "Chariots of Fire" put that tune in their movie as a tribute to "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner".
Rating:  - Still powerful and relevant
Tony Richardson is today a relatively neglected director but back in the 1960's was responsible for as many good and important British movies as anyone else in UK cinema-as per Tom Jones ,A Taste of Honey ,The Entertainer ,The Charge of the Light Brigade .This is for me his key work and is a superior example of the "angry young man"movement in movies .
Tom Courtenay plays Colin Smith, a poorly educated youth sent to Borstal - a sort of British youth reformatory -for robbing a baker's shop.The Governor of the institution (played by Michael Redgrave )believes in the rehabilitative powers of sport ,believing it builds character and is quick to notice Smith,with a whippet like physique and reserves of stamina , possesses considerable ability as a cross country runner .He encourages this and in particular his participation in the annual cross country competition with a prestigious private school for the sons of the priviliged in the area.He promises Smith special privileges if he competes in and wins the race .Smith agrees and the movie than traces his training regime and folows him on his runs across the land around the Borstal -there is some striking monochrome photography of the countryside here .During these runs Smith reflects on his life and we are given flashback sequences tracing the influences on Smith that have lead him to this point in his life .
On the day of the race he easily outclasses the competitors from the rival team -including a pre-stardom James Fox-and produces a startling act of defiance against "the system" -his revenge if you like against the forces he beleieves have brought him to this point .
Tom Courtenay announced himself as a major actor with this movie and if Redgrave is less impactful it is only because the audience expects great things from this consumate actor ;they are two fine actors giving outstanding performances,
The stark photography of Walter Lasally adds much to the movie as does the adaptation of his own short story by Alan Sillitoe
I do not share Mr Sillitoe's belief that criminals are victims of any "system" but even so I do applaud this powerful and still pertinent movie
Rating: - Gold Medal
The British New Wave which was inspired by the location work, documentary style and class concerns of the Free Cinema movement was very much the dour, dreary and depressing side of British cinema in the 1960's. British cinema however finally began to express itself with a uniquely national tone not seen since the documentary movement of the 1930's. Whilst Hammer provided the colour, glamour and unbridled sexual passions of the day, the productions of Bryantston, Woodfall et al were furious indictments of social inequality. These films were many, but the canon generally now consists of recognised classics such as "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning", "A Taste of Honey" and "This Sporting Life." For me "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" remains the pinnacle of this movement. It is a dismal story of escape, alienation, consumerism, capitalism, tradition and conformity. But director Tony Richardson isn't afraid to lighten things up, usually by speeding up the action. Although we empathise with the plight of the central character, we join him at the films conclusion in a moment of victory, perhaps the only one he will ever experience. Whilst our mind wills Colin to win the final race, a race which has all sorts of metaphorical and symbolic value due to it being a competition against public schoolboys, out heart wills Colin to refuse the road of conformity and tradition. Colin ultimately doesn't let us down, unlike the system that has produced him. This film is beautifully shot, with pitch perfect performances, and a soundtrack which contains a particularly ironic rendition of "Jerusalem". Lindsey Anderson would take the lesson of this film to its logical, revolutionary and bloody conclusion in "If" a few years later, but "If" lacks the humanity, heart and subtle touch of this film.
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