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This Sporting Life [1963] | ![This Sporting Life [1963]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GNNHJ66TL._SL75_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Lindsay Anderson
Actors: Richard Harris, Rachel Roberts, Alan Badel, William Hartnell, Colin Blakely
Studio: ITV DVD
Category: Video
Buy New: £14.99
New (2) Used (9) Collectible (2) from £3.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 624
Format: Black & White, Pal
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 128
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 4.7 x 1.3
EAN: 5014861307128
ASIN: B00004CK5S
Theatrical Release Date: September 13, 1963
Release Date: January 31, 2000
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: ** Brand NEW (exact same cover -unsealed) 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).** 100 % quality Guaranteed** Buy With Confidence!!
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
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 unlikeable but sympathetic figure trying against hope to savour 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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| Customer Reviews:
 It's cliched up north September 9, 2006
7 out of 12 found this review helpful
Lindsay Anderson's This Sporting Life now seems more a mishmash of influences than an enduring classic. There's a very strong influence from Truffaut's 400 Blows, a dash of the British Free Cinema movement and a lot of melodramatic kitchen sink `realism,' while the accents are all over the place - set in Wakefield, Yorkshire, the accents veer from Ireland, Wales and all points north. The flashback structure now seems too forced a device to really allow you into the story for far too much of the running time, although the sledgehammer subtly of Roberto Gerhard's crashingly over-the-top monotonal avant-garde score doesn't help by constantly overstating the it's-grim-oop-north clichés as Greek tragedy.
Richard Harris' Frank Machin is very much in the angry-young-man mould of the day - if anything he manages to be more unpleasant than Saturday Night and Sunday Morning's Arthur Seaton and Look Back in Anger's Jimmy Porter combined, an inarticulate brute who thinks he can bulldoze his way to Rugby success (he can) and into landlady Rachel Roberts' heart (he can't, but it's hard to see why he'd want to), so naturally he's heading for a pre-ordained fall. Which, seen today, is part of the problem. The film follows the classic formula of all the kitchen sink films of the day, culminating in what can either be seen as the victory of the system or the triumph of the old moral censorship code - that such characters must always be seen to be punished or to repent. No surprises, not much impact but a surprisingly decent cast. No extras on the DVD either, but a reasonable transfer.
This Sporting Life November 25, 2004
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
Uncompromising, claustrophobic, grubby, pitiless, deadly - this film succeeds in describing the essence of the industrial North before the winds of social change emanating from Swinging London really started to make themselves felt. It is almostly certainly cinema's most 'honest' portrayal of the British working-class milieu in the early-'sixties. For this reason alone it is well worth seeing, but it also features fine acting performances, not only from the two leads, but also from a surprisingly strong supporting cast, which includes a number of household names from the era.One word of caution concerning this particular presentation: whether due to the original mono soundtrack or the DVD manufacturers/distributors, the audio is poor throughout the film and dialogue occasionally difficult to follow. Subtitles are however provided.
 Powerful English drama February 2, 2004
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
This drama offers a gripping story and outstanding performances. The affair between a frigid widow and a professional rugby player who carries the violence of the football field into his personal life is painfully detailed and will have you captivated throughout the whole film.
A powerful film characteristic of the British dramas of the 50’s and 60’s based on working class life in rural England. Director Lindsay Anderson is one of the major contributors to this genre.
"This Sporting Life" improves with time. February 22, 2001
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
"This Sporting Life" remains a cornerstone of British cinema. Lindsay Anderson's remarkable understanding of the original source material echoes with the political turmoil of the early sixties at the same time as it reminds us that the British New Wave was its own voice. Contrary to critics of the period who denounced this film as derivative of nouvelle vague filmmaking, Anderson and his remarkable team shot the world of class and culture as none had done before. The ragged use of black and white, coupled with a lack of slickness that only compunds the reality of the piece, places us squarely in the squalid and often gritty world of men's locker rooms, desperately lonely rowhouses and heartless luxury. Richard Harris creates a character achingly out of reach of his own emotions and thoughts and Rachel Roberts succeeds as the widow who, sadly, knows nothing but emptiness and tragedy. Both of these actors do the finest work of their careers and they are supported by a quietly powerful ensemble that helps to explain why this period in British filmmaking continues to resonate.
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