THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER
2:30 6:35
Friday, March 24
(1962, Tony Richardson) As dense warden Michael Redgrave beams, those marathon records keep coming for defiant Borstal Boy Tom Courtenay, even as his flashbacks unreel, with the final match providing the opportunity for an ironic revenge. From the Alan Sillitoe story. 35mm. Approx. 105 mins.
Reviews
“You can almost hear the clashing of the New Waves, English and French.”
– John Coleman
“Has a vivid, compelling air of reality, an attractive compression of details and an exciting cinematic flow. He has the all-seeing camera instinct of the new British ‘documentary’ school, which overlays ugliness of background with foreground beauty of character and poetry.”
– Bosley Crowther, The New York Times
“A key British film…mixing grim-oop-north location shooting and a flashback structure, with a wonderful aura of freedom as Borstal boy Tom Courtenay samples nature on cross-country training runs. Its freewheeling style borrowed a little from the French new wave but came up with something very British – a forerunner and inspiration for Leigh, Loach and Alan Clarke.”
– Rob Mackie, The Guardian