About this product

Product Information

A Borstal boy has nothing going for him except the ability to run. He is selected to compete against a public school and starts a training programme, during which he relives his troubled past and plans how to show his contempt for authority.

Product Identifiers

ProducerTony Richardson

EAN5035673011119

eBay Product ID (ePID)110628489

Product Key Features

ActorMichael Redgrave, Julia Foster, Alec Mccowen, James Bolam, Tom Courtenay, John Thaw, Joe Robinson

Film/TV TitleThe Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

DirectorTony Richardson

LanguageEnglish

Run Time100 Mins

Release Year2011

FormatBluraydvd

FeaturesBlack & White

GenreDrama, General

Additional Product Features

Number of Discs2

Certificate12A/12

Country/Region of ManufactureUnited Kingdom

ComposerJohn Addison

Production DesignerRalph Brinton

Additional InformationAlan Sillitoe's autobiographical novel about a rebellious 18-year-old living in dreary Lancashire proved to be the perfect material for Tony Richardson to adapt in the early 1960s. The film stars Tom Courtenay as the disaffected Colin Smith, who ends up in a Borstal, or reform school, after robbing a bakery. The Governor (Sir Michael Redgrave), the institution's chief authority, believes in physical training as a means of rehabilitating his charges. Despite his contempt for all authority, Colin one day inadvertently outruns the school's leading long-distance runner, and the Governor immediately assigns him to be trained for an imminent competition with a well-known public school. During his solitary training exercises, Colin flashes back to scenes of his chaotic youth: his father, a blue-collar worker dying of cancer, and his mother, a foul-mouthed harridan, blowing the insurance settlement on a new lover and a new TV. On the day of the big race, the two schools must share a locker room, and Gunthorpe (James Fox), the captain of the opposing team, reflexively wishes Colin good luck. The surprised boy looks at him as though these are the only words of encouragement he's ever received. Courtenay is exceptional in his film debut, exuding the bitterness typical of the director's early 'angry young man' films. Employing jump cuts and undercranked scenes borrowed from the Nouvelle Vague, the film emphasizes the oppressiveness of the boy's environment and the temporary freedom that running offers him.

ReviewsTotal Film - ...The nihilistic, punky buzz packs an immortal wallop....Classic...

Art DirectorTed Marshall

FeaturedPeter Madden

AuthorAlan Sillitoe

CinematographerWalter Lassally

Sound sourceDolby Digital

EditorAntony Gibbs

Movie/TV TitleThe Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner