This Sporting Life [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import

Product Description

Spain released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: English (Dolby Digital 2.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Subtitles), Portuguese (Subtitles), Spanish (Subtitles), SYNOPSIS: Adapted by David Storey from his own novel, This Sporting Life stars Richard Harris as Frank, an athletic coal miner who aspires to the greener pastures of professional rugby. Soon establishing himself as one of the most brutal and arrogant players in the business, Frank begins to amass a fortune. He also falls in love with his landlady, Mrs Hammond (Rachel Roberts), who initially resists his advances. When she finally gives in, their relationship hinges on sex alone, as Frank practically begs Mrs. Hammond to give of herself emotionally and she remains incapable. At the wedding ceremony for one of Frank's teammates, Mrs. Hammond unexpectedly lashes out at her swaggering lover. They split up, but Frank, who until now has equated happiness with wealth, is unable to get over the permanent loss. In the end, with nothing else left, all of Frank's self-worth becomes contingent on his rugby performances, though Frank and the other players are exploited to such a degree that this also proves disastrous. Widely regarded as one of the finest British feature films ever produced, the gritty and bleak This Sporting Life not only marked former documentary filmmaker Lindsay Anderson's first feature, but became one of the harbingers of the 'Angry Young Man' school of filmmaking. SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, Photo Gallery, Trailer(s),

Average customer rating:

The Angry Young Man
We do not care sufficiently for the film to become any kind of classic...
Richard Harris' best perfomance
Powerful Preformance by Richard Harris and Cast
Review of the Film, NOT the DVD

This Sporting Life [Region 2]
Starring: Richard Harris , Rachel Roberts , Alan Badel , William Hartnell , and Colin Blakely
Director: Lindsay Anderson
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( T ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00004D34L

Amazon.com

Prolific British filmmaker Lindsay Anderson weaves this small, evocative tale of young life at the crossroads in early 1960s Northern England. A rough, sullen young man (Richard Harris) working in the local coal mines begins to make a name for himself as a star rugby player, but even as he begins to fall in love he cannot escape the harsh realities of the bleak life around him. The rugby sequences in the film are striking, but no more so than the depiction of downtrodden people living in the shadow of industry and corruption that too often crushes their spirit. Harris in one of his first roles, is remarkably effective as an unlikable but sympathetic figure trying against hope to savor the small joys life has to offer, and the film also features the debut of renowned actress Glenda Jackson. One of a series of working-class, character-driven British imports, This Sporting Life is one of the best on the field. --Robert Lane

Customer Reviews:

The Angry Young Man.......2007-07-22

One of the greatest sports films ever made Lindsay Anderson's This Sporting Life is a film that while not always easy to watch demands to be seen. Richard Harris, in a Cannes best actor winning role, plays Frank Machin, a ex coal miner who becomes a rugy star in his north London community. Machin is a broodish brute of a man trying to escape his social situation in the only way he knows how by playing violent City League rugby. His success on the field is mirrored by his loneliness and detachment off the field as he attempts to gain the love of his emotionally dead widow landlady Margaret Hammond (Rachel Roberts).

This film forms the template for many of the great sports films that followed it. It was especially important to Martin Scorsese in his film Raging Bull. Harris'performance is incredible. It is almost as if he were channeling Brando's performance in On the Waterfront. The film's structure is also unique. Machin's story is told in a series of flashbacks on the day that he got his teeth knocked out on the rugby field.

This film offers an emotional rollercoaster ride like no other that I've seen recently.Shot in harsh white light by Denys Coop. The color palette matches the loneliness and social stratification felt by the main characters. This is not an easy film to watch but it does have its rewards. This is part of the origins of the so-called angry young man cinema of the 1960's. It was this type of film that introduced the world to Britain's working class.

I viewed this film in the Paramount VHS edition which provided an adequate viewing experience. The film is available in a rare DVD edition. The costly nature makes purchase of the DVD impossible for me but it is my understanding that there are no special features.

Do yourself a favor and seek it out. View it as a great sports film or social commentary but see it.

We do not care sufficiently for the film to become any kind of classic..........2007-01-15

In 1963 Lindsay Anderson directed his first feature, "This Sporting Life," based on David Storey's novel about a rugby player's doomed love for his widowed landlady...

Marked by strong performances, it differs from other superficially similar British films of the time by introducing a great deal of poetry into its otherwise orthodox realist view of the Industrial North...

Rugby games are shot in epic slow motion, linking Richard Harris' brute physicality to an almost primeval vision of humanity; while the spider he smashes against a white hospital wall as a black line of blood trickles from his beloved's corpse is a potent symbol of death and of the character's own inability to communicate...

"This Sporting Life" remains a skillful movie-making around an unacttractive hero in dismal settings; for all the excellent detail, we do not care sufficiently for the film to become any kind of classic...

Richard Harris' best perfomance.......2007-01-09

Frank Machin's life is empty. Devoid of social graces his one escape from a boring existance is the atheletic skills he displays during Rugby League games. Violence and brute force are the norm and he excells at this sport. His life off the field is drab, boring and at times violent. The film's gray black and white coloring mimic the drab existence of the working class he emanates from. He lodges with a widow who is frigid and withdrawn from the world and lives alone with two children. We only know of her husband's suicide but can easily guess at the cause. Frank comes to love this woman but is unable to inspire the same feelings from her. We are at times touched by his tender advances towards her and the paternal interests in her children. Unfortunately neither of these two people is able to get past the deep isolation which characterizes their lives.
Richard Harris and Rachel Roberts are both superb and this movie should be on every must see list. I can't recollect any better performance from Harris

Powerful Preformance by Richard Harris and Cast.......2006-04-01

From the opening scene, one gets the feeling that this is a unique movie. Little in "This Sporting Life" is obvious and there is much subtlety that I'm sure I missed the first time around. However, the composite of this movie clearly portrays an angry young man with an obsession that even he can't seem to truly define. He is out to conquer the world and full of the self-confidence to do so. However, the world is abrasive and it wears him down bit by bit. He will not surrender but he realizes that he cannot control the world around him.

"This Sporting Life" jumps around in time to give us a complete story in an economic way. It seems odd to note that this 134 minute movie comes across as too short. The closing scene is so brilliant that we understand completely what has become of our anti-hero. There are many other telling scenes as well. One in particular takes place when he takes his lady to a posh restaurant. His boorish behavior is almost too overdone but the point is made; this man is from the working class. He may take their money but he does not belong in their world. At least not without an invitation. What was most difficult for me to grasp was Harris's relationship with his landlady/lover. Their "affair" seems to be one-sided on his part. She is living in grief from the loss of her first husband and seems to be always pulling away from his advances. In the end, she seems to be the one person he needs yet the one person he cannot influence. Along the way, Harris shows himself beholden to no one. The one friend he appears to have on the team learns that even he cannot tease this troubled man.

Lindsay Anderson and Richard Harris both achieved greatness in "This Sporting Life". I paused halfway through the movie to reflect that I have never seen Richard Harris so good in any other role. He owns this film in a way that even the writer cannot claim credit for. Anderson uses his gifts as a director to get the most out of every scene. There are no meaningless moments in "This Sporting Life". This is not a feel good movie. The film wears you down with its's bleak outlook. However, it leaves you reflecting that you have seen a work of art.

Review of the Film, NOT the DVD.......2006-03-31

I can't imagine spending this amount of money on the available DVD versions...TIVO if the next time it runs on Turner Classic Movies.

That said, this is arguably Richard Harris's finest performance...a tour de force that must have excited audiences of the time much the same way Russell Crowe did when he first came on the scene. In fact, there are many moments throughout this fine picture that made me think of Crowe...probably the only actor who could ever attempt to pull off a remake.

A remake, however, under almost any circusmtances would be a bad idea because this is such a masterpiece. The writing, directing and performances are all top notch and there is the definitive mark of the 1960's British filmmaking genre from start to finish. Powerful, evocative and a memorable art film and character study that is sure to stay with you long after the final credits.

Average customer rating:

The Angry Young Man
We do not care sufficiently for the film to become any kind of classic...
Richard Harris' best perfomance
Powerful Preformance by Richard Harris and Cast
Review of the Film, NOT the DVD

This Sporting Life
Starring: Richard Harris , Rachel Roberts , Alan Badel , William Hartnell , and Colin Blakely
Director: Lindsay Anderson
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Sports | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( T ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: 6305186642
Release Date: 1998-12-01

Amazon.com

Description

The ultimate expression of British social realism, Lindsay Anderson's "This Sporting Life" marks the age of the Angry Young Man. Richard Harris is Frank Machin, an aggressive rugby-playing miner in the north of England who destroys the relationship he wants most by the force of his rebellious will. Anderson's incisive comment on class expatiation is as forceful as it is subtly riveting.