Cinema
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
Tony Richardson · 1962
Synopsis
Colin Smith, a teenager from Nottingham, burgles a bakery with his friend Mike and hides the money in a gutter; one rainy day, the water washes it out in front of the policeman who has come to question him. Sent to the Ruxton Towers borstal, he is noticed by the governor, who wants to beat the neighbouring private school in a cross-country race. Colin obtains privileges and permission to train outside the barbed wire; during these runs, flashbacks show his life before.
Context
Alan Sillitoe wrote the screenplay himself from his 1959 short story, as he had done two years earlier for the adaptation of one of his novels. Tom Courtenay, in his first major screen role, received the British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for most promising newcomer. The film was a commercial failure. In the spring of 1962, a few months before the release, in September, the director had married Vanessa Redgrave, daughter of Michael Redgrave, who plays the governor.
Who it is for
One hour forty-four minutes; the narrative, told during the hero's races, is interspersed with flashbacks.
Prizes and reception
A film of the British New Wave; two years later its director received the Oscar for Best Director, for a completely different subject.