This Sporting Life Details

This Sporting Life

Adapted from David Storey's novel of the same title, THIS SPORTING LIFE is a gritty, unblinking look at life in the coal mining region of Northern England as seen through the eyes of Frank Machin. Richard Harris gives a remarkable performance as Machin, a proud man who wants to quit his job as a miner and follow his aspirations to become a professional rugby player. Produced by Karel Reisz, who made the acclaimed film about working class life, SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING, and directed by Lindsay Anderson, both of whom worked in the Free Cinema movement, THIS SPORTING LIFE brings realism to both the brutal violence of the rugby matches it portrays and to the emotional and physical violence in the character's lives.
When Frank Machin leaves the mine where he has always worked and signs a contract with a professional rugby team, he hopes to gain social standing and respect. But he finds the hero worship of the drunken fans distasteful. While the owner of the team praises Machin as his star player in the privacy of the locker room, he snubs him in public. Machin's need to love and be loved is compellingly conveyed by Harris with the same startling immediacy as his raw physical power. He forcefully seduces his landlady, Mrs. Hammond (Rachel Roberts), into a doomed love affair. As things continue to go downhill for Machin, the film captures the mood and feel of this gray industrial area in muted tones in the daytime, achieving a kind of documentary authenticity, but allowing a silvery shine to the night shots, paradoxically enhancing the feeling of human alienation. Though there is little that is uplifting about this parable of working class life in England, its vibrancy, Harris's powerful, sexually charged performance, and Anderson's edgy visual style give it a place not only among the great sports movies, but among the best of all British films.

Starring	Richard Harris, Rachel Roberts, Alan Badel, Arthur Lowe, Colin Blakely, William Hartnell
Director	Lindsay Anderson
Studio	PRISM LEISURE
Run time	DVD: 1 hr 33 mins Watch now: 2 hrs 14 mins
Certificate	DVD: , Watch Online:
Genres	Drama
Language	DVD: English
Hearing-impaired	English
Released	DVD: not available Watch now: 02 Jun 2009 Production year: 1963
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Format	DVD