The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)
Directed by Tony Richardson

Film Review

By the time Tony Richardson came to make The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, British cinema's virulent outbreak of gritty social realism had all but run its course, and this could explain some of the quirkier aspects of Richardson's athletics-themed film.  Looking suspiciously like a remake of François Truffaut's Les 400 coups (1959), complete with some obvious Nouvelle Vague touches (including aggressive jump cuts and sequences speeded up for comic effect, à la Godard), The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner offers yet another 'angry young man' shot of kitchen sink realism.  The film was scripted by Alan Sillitoe, whose similarly themed novel,  Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, had previously been adapted to great effect by Karel Reisz.

Tom Courtenay achieved instant stardom through this, his first screen role, as the cunning working class rebel who seeks to take a stand against a class-ridden society that fills him with disgust.  Courtenay's compelling performance gave cinema one of its most convincing portrayals of youth alienation and serves to anchor the film in the grim reality which Richardson, with a surprising lack of restraint, seems determined to undercut with his frivolous attempts at humour.  Of the angry young men that smacked their way onto British cinema screens in the late 1950s, early 1960s, Courtenay's Colin Smith is arguably the most well-rounded and believable, although the means by which he achieves his personal victory is somewhat bewildering.  By refusing to give in to authority, Colin denies himself the prospect of improving his fortunes and thereby escaping a life of working class drudgery.  He cuts off his nose to spite his own face - a strange way of putting two fingers up to Britain's intractable class system.

Imperfect though it is, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is one of Tony Richardson's most incisive and likeable films, not quite as genuine as his earlier masterpiece A Taste of Honey (1961), but nonetheless a thoughtful and engaging study in class disenfranchisement.  The characters are convincingly drawn (more so than the out-dated archetypes of previous films of this ilk) and colourfully portrayed by a talented cast.  The enlightened amiability of Michael Redgrave's prisoner governor is soon worn away to reveal a toe-curling patrician; James Bolam's Mike (Colin's buddy) is a youthful forerunner of the actor's popular Likely Lads character; and Avis Bunnage is irredeemably tragic as Colin's pathetic, self-centred mother.  Frank Finlay and James Fox also put in brief appearances, at the start of their illustrious careers.

Amidst this glittering ensemble, Tom Courtenay stands out as a young actor with an obvious flair for conflicted character portrayals.  The unsettling surface calm of Courtenay's performance belies the fury that rages beneath.  Courtenay doesn't need to snarl and lash out like a deranged animal as Albert Finney had done in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.  We can see his anger and contempt plainly in his face, a cold mask of defiance against a world that is to him nothing more than a meaningless charade.  Don't let the crass comic interludes deceive you.  This is British social realism at its most bitter and unforgiving.

Film Synopsis

Colin Smith, a rebellious young man from a working class background in Nottingham, ends up in borstal after robbing a bakery.  The prisoner governor is impressed by his potential as a long distance runner and encourages him to train for a competition against a nearby public school.  By complying with the governor's wishes, Colin earns himself privileges, which include going for long cross-country runs outside the prison gates.  On one such run, Colin recalls the events that led to his arrest.  It began shortly after the death of his father.  His old dad was barely in his grave before his mum had squandered his insurance money and started seeing another man.  Egged on by his friend Mike, and determined to rebel against a society he has come to despise, Colin was easily led into a life of crime...