This Sporting Life - Criterion Collection
by Lindsay Anderson
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DVD details
Actor: Richard HarrisDirector: Lindsay Anderson
Brand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Restored, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 135 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-01-22
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion Collection
DVD Reviews of This Sporting Life - Criterion Collection
DVD Review: Last of the British New Wave
Summary: 5 Stars
Two great performances by Richard Harris and Rachel Roberts (their best) but the film is very gloomy, did poor business in 1963 and ended the brief flourish of gritty realism that included Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and A Taste of Honey. It was Lindsay Anderson's feature debut and one of his better films. This Criterion DVD is as ever informed and packed with extra material, justifying the high price.DVD Review: Harris & Roberts Take Us On An Emotional Ride
Summary: 4 Stars
The film also went from a tight, action-drama in the first half hour to a straight drama the second half hour to a melodrama over the last hour. It had a tightness in the beginning, an edgy feel to it, whether it was "Frank" on the playing field or trying to make headway with "Margaret" and her two small kids. Then, it slowly got almost into a soap opera mindset but still kept my interest if only to find out what wound happen to this "couple."
Kudos to Richard Harris and Rachel Roberts ("Margaret") for keeping it interesting because it's a fairly long film and there is a long segment where very little happens.
Both Richrd Harris and Rachel Roberts were up for Academy Awards. I thought Harris was the standout here. It's hard to be a loutish rugby jock on one hand and a tender, caring guy at the same time, but Harris pulled it off. He made "Machin" a very believable character with that tough-soft combination. He even looked the part: a rough guy who could (and did in real life) muck it up with the best of 'em in a very physical sport. Harris was so good that one minute you really rooted for him; the next minute you'd think "the hell with this moron."
Roberts evoked similar emotions. You wanted this bitter and angry woman to be happy, yet sometimes you thought she didn't deserve someone who seemed to care. As a man, I felt Frank's frustration in trying to get to this lady, who might have a lot to offer (besides sex) if she'd just let go of the past and her anger. She's also upset about being a "kept woman," something this generation doesn't understand. In Margaret's day, you didn't stay in the same house with a man unless you were married. The neighbors were talking, and she was shamed.
Roberts, I am told, had many demons in her (real) life and didn't have the career of her co-star, but she was a fine, fine actress.
Both these man characters were simple and complex, at the same time. This is why I looked at this film as a character study of two people, instead of a depressing melodrama, which some have labeled it. Yeah, it's not "Mary Poppins" but I didn't find it that depressing. I also enjoyed William Hartnell as "Dad" Johnson. I wish his role had been bigger. He was a very intriguing guy. The rugby team's owners were portrayed - as many were back then - as nothing but exploitive.
Another big part of the reason I basically enjoyed the film was the excellent direction and photography, and the fantastic DVD transfer given to us by Criterion. This is a pristine print: no spots, now flaws - just a fabulous picture. If you enjoy the cinematography of film noir, you'll like this. If you appreciate powerful human dramas, you'll find it worth your while.
DVD Review: A profound and timely masterpiece...
Summary: 5 Stars
I've seen this film roughly seven times and each time I grow to love it even more. It's sublimely acted, ferociously directed and brilliantly constructed. The script is poignant and focused; the mood and atmosphere is masterfully conflicted (yes, I said and mean conflicted; it's a brilliant take on conflicting emotions) and the overall feel this film delivers is one of pure satisfaction, even if the film is heartbreakingly bleak and somber.
The film tells the story of Frank Machin, a young gruff man who allows Rugby fame to go to his head and destroy his hopes for a happy life. Renting a room from a young widow named Margaret, Frank finds himself wanting to be a center part of her family (she has young children) but is constantly finding himself on the outskirts due to his demeanor. He is segregated from the team despite his athletic ability and ferocious drive. He has one loyal friend in Maurice, a fellow teammate, but his own selfishness causes him to almost reject Maurice's friendship.
Frank is a mess of man who hasn't a chance.
The film works as two films; an exciting and engrossing sports story as well as a thought provoking character study. The story is told through flashbacks that tell us a little at a time the type of man Frank is and the effect he has on the people around him. His relationship with Margaret seems to be the central theme running throughout the film, and the final explosive confrontation between the two is the most profound scene in the film, tying up all out thoughts of this man and our reservations about his future.
This is one of those rare films that fully explains it's character, for when the credit begin to roll you feel as if you truly know this man. Director Lindsay Anderson brilliantly weaves this tale together with such fluidity that we are drawn in by every frame. He presents such a solid case for us, reflecting on Machin's social standing as well as his dire loneliness to flesh out this man; and in the process he taps into the alienation and resentment that festers under the skin of those around him, namely Margaret.
I am a firm believer in the fact that Richard Harris should have won the Oscar for his riveting portrayal of Frank Machin. Yes, I know, I've mentioned this before in my review of `Lilies of the Field', but it bears repeating. Harris is leagues ahead of the performance that actually won that year, so far ahead in fact that it is an insult to have lost; truly. He captures the inner struggle of this man with delicate precision on dire determination. You cannot take your eyes off this man as he constructs this man from the ground up and delivers a blisteringly real performance. He is aided by Rachel Roberts, who was also outstanding, as well as Alan Badel, William Hartnell and the Oscar snubbed Colin Blakely who brilliantly counteracts Harris's harshness with a solid and joyful supporting performance.
All around this is a home run, or should I say touchdown.
DVD Review: Undoubted masterpiece of a great period
Summary: 5 Stars
I have loved the great British films of the '60s about the underclass, and This Sporting Life is a masterpiece that any cinema lover who does not know it has to see; it will be indelible. It's a powerful film from that period and Rachel Roberts puts in one of the great performances of the era. In this regard I might mention that "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" is my personal favorite, and what ever became of Tony Richardson's "A
Taste of Honey?"
DVD Review: A reference in British Film
Summary: 5 Stars
Once again Criterion Collection have achieved a masterly job. This is a first-class transfer of an impeccable print of Anderson's masterpiece (the quality of the black and white photography is simply stupendous), and the bonuses include rarely shown Anderson films: one of his very first shorts (Meet the Pioneers) and his very last film (Is That All There Is?). It is a pity there is no equivalent in region 2 dvds. On top of that the audio commentary and the accompanying booklet include less rare but truly interesting material. A landmark in the history of DVD editions of British classics.
Description of This Sporting Life - Criterion Collection
One of the finest British films ever made, this benchmark of kitchen-sink realism follows the self-defeating professional and romantic pursuits of a miner turned rugby player eking out an existence in drab Yorkshire. With an astonishing, raging performance by a young Richard Harris, an equally blistering turn by fellow Oscar nominee Rachel Roberts as the widow with whom he lodges, and electrifying direction by Lindsay Anderson, in his feature-film debut following years of documentary work, This Sporting Life remains a dramatic powerhouse.SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary featuring Paul Ryan, editor of Never Apologise: The Collected Writings of Lindsay Anderson, and David Storey, screenwriter and author of This Sporting Life
Theatrical trailer
Lindsay Anderson: Lucky Man? (2004, 30 min), a BBC Scotland documentary featuring interviews with many of the director s close friends and collaborators
New video interview with Lois Sutcliffe Smith, Anderson s close friend and president of the Lindsay Anderson Memorial Foundation
Meet the Pioneers (1948), Lindsay Anderson s first documentary short
Wakefield Express (1952), Anderson s short-film contribution to England s Free Cinema series, shot in the same town that served as the location for This Sporting Life
Is That All There Is? (1992, 50 min), Anderson s autobiographical, final film
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film scholar Neil Sinyard and writings by Anderson, including his groundbreaking article, Stand Up! Stand Up!
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 unlikable but sympathetic figure trying against hope to savor 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
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