Look Back In Anger
Posted: October 30th, 2009, 3:06 pm
I've wanted to watch this movie for so long, the DVD companies just kept passing over it and finally it has been released. It's the first of the angry young men movies to come out of Britain. Written by John Osbourne, it was a hit on the British stage, it must have caught the British by surprise after the niceties of plays by Terence Rattigan. I can see similarities between this and A Street Car Named Desire, lower class men, middle class women, mild mannered friend.
Any film that stars Richard Burton and Claire Bloom is bound to be worth watching but for me the best performance is given by Mary Ure, she's more naturalistic and her character has dignity despite having indignity and after indignity heaped upon her by Jimmy and then by her friend Eleanor. The chemistry between Richard Burton and Claire Bloom is evident, they had starred on stage previously.
I hadn't expected Jimmy Porter to be as angry as he was, I struggled to see any redeeming features at all. I'm not sure he'd had an awakening at the end of the film. He'd spent time with Eleanor never seeming to miss Alison, Eleanor is even referred to as his wife. Jimmy doesn't break with Eleanor, Eleanor breaks it after meeting Alison in a cafe and realising how she had suffered in the meantime.
I can only imagine that Alison just can't bear to be without Jimmy, he's Richard Burton, the man with the gorgeous voice but I can't buy Jimmy's charisma.
All this said, I did like the film and want to see it again because I felt that there was so much I didn't understand.
Any film that stars Richard Burton and Claire Bloom is bound to be worth watching but for me the best performance is given by Mary Ure, she's more naturalistic and her character has dignity despite having indignity and after indignity heaped upon her by Jimmy and then by her friend Eleanor. The chemistry between Richard Burton and Claire Bloom is evident, they had starred on stage previously.
I hadn't expected Jimmy Porter to be as angry as he was, I struggled to see any redeeming features at all. I'm not sure he'd had an awakening at the end of the film. He'd spent time with Eleanor never seeming to miss Alison, Eleanor is even referred to as his wife. Jimmy doesn't break with Eleanor, Eleanor breaks it after meeting Alison in a cafe and realising how she had suffered in the meantime.
I can only imagine that Alison just can't bear to be without Jimmy, he's Richard Burton, the man with the gorgeous voice but I can't buy Jimmy's charisma.
All this said, I did like the film and want to see it again because I felt that there was so much I didn't understand.