To my mind, and to many others, This Sporting Life is the essential, character-driven British exponent of that 1960's realism, 'kitchen sink' drama.
With its moody and stark black & white photography and a similarly moody and stark, career best (my opinion) performance by Richard Harris - and the settings are as they were in Northern England back then. Yes, you guessed it - moody and stark.
Coal mining is, or was a tough job. For an ambitious man, that wasn't quite enough for Frank Machin (Harris) and so, when his way of showing off and 'getting the ladies', Saturday afternoon rugby league turns good, he milks it dry. This, goes to his head and becomes a weapon of oneupmanship, to lever his ego above those of his friends and work colleagues.
But, for all the hard, realism on the field, it's the poignant but also often aggressive outcomes with the women who creep into his life. Especially for his landlady, who in some ways, remains the only relative constant in his topsy-turvy world. They're not the meek and demure ones that maybe he would emotionally feel comfortable with - and preferred - and their truths hurt him as much as the injuries he gets on the pitch.
I find the film riveting and memorable, but also hard work and some might say, it's a little melodramatic at times. But, that was the style back then and the character is certainly able to support it. I feel I should have given it ten stars, but then that would diminish (albeit very slightly) those few I do.
With its moody and stark black & white photography and a similarly moody and stark, career best (my opinion) performance by Richard Harris - and the settings are as they were in Northern England back then. Yes, you guessed it - moody and stark.
Coal mining is, or was a tough job. For an ambitious man, that wasn't quite enough for Frank Machin (Harris) and so, when his way of showing off and 'getting the ladies', Saturday afternoon rugby league turns good, he milks it dry. This, goes to his head and becomes a weapon of oneupmanship, to lever his ego above those of his friends and work colleagues.
But, for all the hard, realism on the field, it's the poignant but also often aggressive outcomes with the women who creep into his life. Especially for his landlady, who in some ways, remains the only relative constant in his topsy-turvy world. They're not the meek and demure ones that maybe he would emotionally feel comfortable with - and preferred - and their truths hurt him as much as the injuries he gets on the pitch.
I find the film riveting and memorable, but also hard work and some might say, it's a little melodramatic at times. But, that was the style back then and the character is certainly able to support it. I feel I should have given it ten stars, but then that would diminish (albeit very slightly) those few I do.