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Posted: |
Jul 15, 2024 - 11:55 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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Kitchen Sink realism? Let our good friends at the Wikipedia better describe it:
"Kitchen sink realism (or kitchen sink drama) is a British cultural movement that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, film and television plays, whose protagonists usually could be described as "angry young men" who were disillusioned with modern society. It used a style of social realism which depicted the domestic situations of working-class Britons, living in cramped rented accommodation and spending their off-hours drinking in grimy pubs, to explore controversial social and political issues ranging from abortion to homelessness. The harsh, realistic style contrasted sharply with the escapism of the previous generation's so-called "well-made plays."
"The films, plays and novels employing this style are often set in poorer industrial areas in the North of England, and use the accents and slang heard in those regions. The film It Always Rains on Sunday (1947) is a precursor of the genre and the John Osborne play Look Back in Anger (1956) is thought of as the first of the genre.
The term "Kitchen Sink School" was first used in the visual arts, where the art critic David Sylvester used it in 1954 to describe a group of painters who called themselves the Beaux Arts Quartet, and depicted social realist–type scenes of domestic life."
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I've finally started my long-deferred journey into this film genre. I have not seen any of the films, so this is all new territory to me.
The goal of this thread is to review the films as I watch them and hopefully for anyone who cares to share their thoughts and opinions about the films, the time in which they were made, and whatever else related to the genre so that we might have an interesting discussion.
Please keep your reviews spoiler free or at least use spoiler blackout bars.
I've just watched my first of this genre, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962), and my review will follow shortly.
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Posted: |
Jul 15, 2024 - 12:58 PM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)
Plot: A young thief takes up long-distance running when he is sent to a borstal.
Directed by Tony Richardson.
Written by Alan Sillitoe.
Cinematography by Walter Lassally.
Starring: Tom Courtenay, Michael Redgrave, Avis Bunnage, James Bolam, Julia Foster.
Filmed in Surrey; East Sussex; Lincolnshire.
Before I saw the film, I had no idea what a borstal was. I have a feeling there's a lot I don't know about England (or its film industry).
Tom Courtenay is an actor I knew from some of his 1980s work, but I don't think I'd ever seen him in anything. He is terribly good as "Colin Smith", a young man who seems to be the only one among his irritating family who is grieving over his dying father. I liked the family scenes, though I suppose they were supposed to show Colin's less-than-magnificent home life. I felt that those at-home scenes were far more successful comedically than Richardson's odd choice to crank the film in other scenes, which were accompanied by John Addison's matching Mickey Mouse underscore. However, Addison does provide an atmospheric main title as well as some delightful jazzy cues in the scenes when the wiry Courtenay is running.
The supporting cast are all excellent, with Phelpsian Hero James Bolam as "Mike", Colin's amusing sidekick who provides much of the humor. Michael Redgrave is suitably paternal as the borstal governor. I really enjoyed Raymond Dyer, who played "Gordon", the boyfriend of Colin's mother, and I was surprised to learn that Dyer only had three film credits. Dyer was awarded an MBE in 2006 for his services to drama.
The film really takes off when the boys at the borstal sing the "Jerusalem" hymn. I can't explain why, but for whatever reason, the film takes off from this scene (around the 42-minute mark).
Another among my favorite scenes is the two young couples' night out and subsequent walk on the beach, sharing some quiet, reflective, and ultimately romantic moments.
In looking at Tom Courtenay's filmography, it's a shame he had long gaps in between his film assignments. I have Billy Liar in my to-see list.
Mostly well directed by Tony Richardson, but it's the outstanding cinematography of Walter Lassally that is the technical star here.
I'm still mulling over the film's ending. Maybe we can discuss our theories about why Colin acted as he did.
Docked a point for the film crank scenes and comedic music cues, but the film has made me a Tom Courtenay fan. I hope his other work is as interesting as this role.
8 out of 10
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A very good primer on kitchen sink and other trends in postwar to the 1970s British cinema is Raymond Durgnat's Film Comment articles "Britannia Waives the Rules" and "The Great British Phantasmagoria" published in 1976 and 1977. I don't know if they can be found online (my copies are Xeroxed from the actual issues that I found in a reference library), but maybe some of Durgnat's other writings on British cinema can.
A quote: [The major directors'] "score of kitchen-sink film features is surprisingly small:
Karel Reisz 1 (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning)
Lindsay Anderson 1 (This Sporting Life)
John Schlesinger 2 (A Kind of Loving, Billy Liar)
Tony Richardson 4 (Look Back in Anger, The Entertainer, A Taste of Honey, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner)
Jack Clayton 1 (Room at the Top)
But Clayton's Room at the Top, then called a kitchen-sink film, now looks more like a highlife one. And while the ordinary middle-class settings of Schlesinger's A Kind of Loving and Billy Liar look positively squalid by comparison with MGM's notion of Mrs. Miniver as a typical British housewife, they felt quite different to their home audiences, who were relishing their new affluence, the pleasures of recognition, and the assertion of dignity that comes from seeing oneself and one's friends, warts and all, as a focus of everybody's fascination."
I personally find quite interesting the numerous "anti-kitchen sink" Brit directors like Powell & Pressburger, Ken Russell, John Boorman, even Lindsay Anderson himself in the surrealism of O Lucky Man and Britannia Hospital. This is the more eccentric and imaginative side of English cinema, and much criticized by the realists.
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Posted: |
Jul 15, 2024 - 2:03 PM
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By: |
MusicMad
(Member)
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Hey Jim, I was raised in this era but rarely saw any of these films as my parents much preferred the glossy US product. I watched one such film last year ... my review from Feb'23:
Room at the Top (1958) ... 7/10
I pushed myself to watch this classic British melodrama because it is one of the earliest adult films I recall watching with my parents - probably late 1960s. Given they disliked home-grown kitchen-sink films ... and Laurence Harvey ... it's surprising they watched it, more so they allowed me to stay up and watch smile
Like them, I'm not a fan of LH though having seen only a few of his films that is unfair. In this, his accent sounds false but his presence is paramount ... he is very good portraying the young man from the poor town, working-class roots, who wants the glamour and rich life but in achieving this ambition loses everything he loves.
If the film is meant to suggest you shouldn't aim above your station then it's despicable; hopefully it's aim (message?) is more akin to the basic rule: don't sell your soul.
A wonderful British cast supplemented by Simone Signoret who is superb as the older woman with whom LH's Joe Lampton becomes involved. The story suggests she is much more than the mere 7 years older ... her acting is certainly far more mature.
I had expected the storyline to concentrate more on the wheeling and dealing of Joe's career, as opposed to the romantic aspects and the middle section of the film does feel drawn-out, but this makes the penultimate scenes where Lampton realises what he's achieved all the more effective.
Initially I wasn't taken with Mario Nascimbene's score (the music for the first romantic encounter was far too Italian) but as the film progressed it became ever more compelling and added to the drama.
I keep intending to watch its sequel Life ...
I should point you towards the Bryan Forbes' productions The L-Shaped Room (1962) and Only Two Can Play (1962), both very good, the former benefitting from a superb performance by Leslie Caron.
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There are quite a few on the periphery of this genre - such as the mentioned Billy Liar - and there are also a few that while not 100% kitchen sink, have elements in them.
Dulcima, for one, with John Mills. And Baby Love with Linda hayden. More when I think.of them.
Others that come to mind are Spring and port wine. Poor cow (which you already mentioned elsewhere) and A Taste of Honey as mentioned above and the one about the posh girl who slums it in A Place to Go. There's another I recall but can't remember name yet.
And don't don't don't let Howard bring up Kes!!!! Ffs.
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Posted: |
Jul 16, 2024 - 6:31 AM
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By: |
Rozsaphile
(Member)
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Hey Jim, I was raised in this era but rarely saw any of these films as my parents much preferred the glossy US product. I watched one such film last year ... my review from Feb'23:
Room at the Top (1958) ... 7/10
I pushed myself to watch this classic British melodrama because it is one of the earliest adult films I recall watching with my parents - probably late 1960s. Given they disliked home-grown kitchen-sink films ... and Laurence Harvey ... it's surprising they watched it, more so they allowed me to stay up and watch smile
Like them, I'm not a fan of LH though having seen only a few of his films that is unfair. In this, his accent sounds false but his presence is paramount ... he is very good portraying the young man from the poor town, working-class roots, who wants the glamour and rich life but in achieving this ambition loses everything he loves.
If the film is meant to suggest you shouldn't aim above your station then it's despicable; hopefully it's aim (message?) is more akin to the basic rule: don't sell your soul.
A wonderful British cast supplemented by Simone Signoret who is superb as the older woman with whom LH's Joe Lampton becomes involved. The story suggests she is much more than the mere 7 years older ... her acting is certainly far more mature.
I had expected the storyline to concentrate more on the wheeling and dealing of Joe's career, as opposed to the romantic aspects and the middle section of the film does feel drawn-out, but this makes the penultimate scenes where Lampton realises what he's achieved all the more effective.
Initially I wasn't taken with Mario Nascimbene's score (the music for the first romantic encounter was far too Italian) but as the film progressed it became ever more compelling and added to the drama.
I keep intending to watch its sequel Life ...
I should point you towards the Bryan Forbes' productions The L-Shaped Room (1962) and Only Two Can Play (1962), both very good, the former benefitting from a superb performance by Leslie Caron.
Amazing that Signoret won the Oscar that year. A French actress in a downbeat English film -- she must have made a strong impression indeed. The obvious alternative choice would have been Audrey Hepburn in her first and arguably greatest dramatic performance (The Nun's Story). Ben-Hur swept the awards that year but was not nominated for best actress.
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Investigate also Jim, Edna, the Inebriate Woman, 1971 TV drama.
Plus also slightly later 1973 Hard Labour by Mike Leigh.
And much later, Mean Time, with tim Roth n one of Gary Oldman first films. It's not B/w 60s kitchen sink but should've been.
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Posted: |
Jul 18, 2024 - 5:53 AM
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By: |
Broughtfan
(Member)
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Check out 1965's Four in the Morning, written and directed by Anthony Simmons and featuring a very early film appearance by Judi Dench. Found out about the film while doing webinar research on early-period John Barry scores.
Found an HD copy on YouTube. Thank you for the recommendation.
I know this isn't the place to discuss music but was curious what you thought of Barry's score. This was likely recorded after Goldfinger, perhaps just after The Ipcress File (ca. March 1965). I'm thinking this was an extremely low budget production but, being so different from the Bond films, Ipcress, The Knack, Mister Moses, films that afforded him the services of good-size orchestras, he (then) probably was enticed by the challenge of scoring a production with only a handful of instruments (from what I've read he had, at the most, ten players for this).
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