Saturday Night And Sunday Morning [1960]

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Primary Contributor : Albert Finney
Primary Contributor : Shirley Anne Field

Product Details

Director : Karel Reisz
Actor : Albert Finney, Shirley Anne Field, Rachel Roberts, Hylda Baker, Norman Rossington
Format : Black & White, PAL
Binding : VHS Tape
EAN : 5035673000946
Number of Discs : 1
Product Group : Video
Release Date : 2003-04-07
Running Time : 85minutes
Studio : Bfi Video

ASIN : B000089AQY

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Customer Reviews

Powerful performances by all in a British classic (2008-08-17)

A Brilliant film and about as British as they come. Filmed entirely on location in the midlands (Nottingham) at the beginning of the 1960s it documents the life of Arthur Seaton (Finney) and the pure drudgery of the working week where all there is to live for is the weekends; a time to get down the pub and binge drink and, at every opportunity, get to bed his friend's middle aged wife, Brenda. Powerful performances by all the cast, especially Finney who plays the part of Arthur with incredible vitality. It demonstrates how even 40 years ago there were individuals who were unashamedly amoral and against authority of any kind. This film is a classic and a piece of social history.

The best 60s British Realist Film (2007-11-30)

You can just feel the fifties about to burst upon the sixties. The pent up frustration is palpable, the pre-war back-to-back values having a fist-fight with the prospect of new town consumerism. Finney has rarely been better, and Hilda Baker gives a standout performance. The grimness of post-war northern working class life is forever encapsulated by Karel Reisz.....Five years later the whole world was in colour.

Saturday Night And Sunday Morning [1960] (2006-01-18)

Karel Reisz's 1960 classic follows a dissatisfied factory worker Arthur Seaton (Albert Finney) through a difficult time in his life. It is the difficult transition from being an 'Angry Young Man' to a man who accepts the world around him. In his attempt to find satisfaction from his monotonous factory job, Arthur becomes involved with a married woman, Brenda (Rachel Roberts). The film follows their relationship in light of the rules and moral codes present in the late 50's and early 60's, it deals with issues of extra-marital sex and pregnancy. At the time this film was controversial and received a great deal of censorship before it was allowed to be released. The issues may seem dated today but were revolutionary at the time of its release.

The film explores deep concepts such as fatalism and leaves you feeling that life isn't yours to change. This very British film is a good example of 'British New Wave' or 'Brit Grit' cinema, sometimes referred to as 'kitchen sink' drama. However I feel that it is more than this; it is the mother of phrases such as "Don't let the bastards grind you down" and "What I want is a good time. All the rest is propaganda;" phrases that underpin the ethos of the film and make its star, Albert Finney' more than just a rebellious lout. His words sum up the feelings of disillusionment and disquiet of the time and make the film a must see for anyone with an interest in good old working-class British Cinema. The 1997 film 'Nil By Mouth' (Oldman) provides a modern outlook on similar themes. Both films are bleak with intentionally unsatisfactory endings. Definitely worth a look for the thoughtful.

Special Features

Something I did find disapppointing about the DVD itself is its lack of special features. It includes:

1.66 Wide ScreenEnglishRegion 2

But there is nothing in terms of interview with the director or even any special footage of the making of the film. Still the film itself is worth a watch, even without the contextual stuff.

An unexamined, somewhat empty life (2005-09-26)

Throughout the 1950s, a group of young British writers were referred to as "angry young men" because, in their novels and plays, they excoriated what they perceived to be the dominant materialistic values of their society following World War Two. They included playwrights John Osborne and Kingsley Amis and novelists John Braine, John Wain, and Alan Silitoe. This film is based on Silitoe's novel (same title) in which he focuses on Arthur Seaton (brilliantly portrayed by Albert Finney) who endures working in a factory all week so that he can afford to drink and chase women on Saturday evening. He lives (if that's the word) day-to-day, insisting "All I want is a good time. The rest is propaganda." Arthur is intelligent enough to know how to indulge his vices but lacks the wisdom to understand that he is drinking and wenching away what few prospects he has to improve his situation. It is unclear (at least to me) whether or not Arthur really wishes to do so. While continuing an affair with Brenda (Rachel Roberts), the bored and restless wife of his foreman/supervisor Jack (Bryan Pringle), Albert also becomes involved with Doreen Gretton (Shirley Ann Field) whose own ambitions seem limited to getting married and starting a family. Revealing to me is the fact that neither Arthur nor Brenda seems especially concerned about, much less rebellious against the limits imposed on them within their class-based industrial society. Suffocation is one of the recurring themes in James Joyce's novels and short stories. I was reminded of that recently as I again observed Arthur's self-indulgent hedonism, indifference to the feelings of others, and callous betrayal of what little he has going for him. Sooner than he realizes, there will be only quiet evenings at home on Saturday. As for his Sundays, perhaps (just perhaps) they will include a moment when he wonders where his youth went as he wearily looks ahead to another dreary week in the local factory. Yes, "the sun also rises...." And then, what will its harsh light reveal?

Saturday night & Sunday morning. (2005-06-26)

This film will really give the viewer a true taste of the time. It's slightly grubby outlook is truly of the period and portrays the working class exactly as they really were. The pubs & clubs, the boys and girls on a Saturday night, looking to put 40 hours of dirty, boring factory work behind them and hoping for a good time are very true and honest. The violence that is shown was always a feature of a night out in these times. A masterpiece of British Cinema not to be missed.

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