This Sporting Life (1963)
In Northern England in the early 1960s, Frank Machin is mean, tough and ambitious enough to become an immediate star in the rugby league team run by local employer Weaver (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Lindsay Anderson
Written By: David Storey
Starring: Richard Harris, Edward Fox, Glenda Jackson, William Hartnell, Colin Blakely, Arthur Lowe, Alan Badel, Jack Watson, Rachel Roberts, Vanda Godsell, Anne Cunningham, Harry Markham
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
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This Sporting Life belongs to 30 collections
1. Criterion Collection (collaborative: moderated by caffe - 167 stars)
2. New York Times' The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made (collaborative: moderated by theficionado - 32 stars)
3. The Guardian's 1000 films to see before you die (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 30 stars)
4. AAA: Empire's five star movies (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 24 stars)
5. Academy Award - Oscar - ALL Best Picture, Directing, Acting & Screenplay Nominees (collaborative - 22 stars)
6. Non-linear (collaborative: moderated by djross - 19 stars)
7. Best of criticker: Drama (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 18 stars)
8. Best film of top directors (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 15 stars)
9. FIPRESCI Prize (collaborative: moderated by paulofilmo - 14 stars)
10. Doubling The Canon (collaborative - 13 stars)
11. The Bfi 100 (collaborative: moderated by nexus - 8 stars)
12. List: Taschen (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 6 stars)
13. Best by different standards (public: sesito71 - 6 stars)
14. Sport (collaborative: moderated by td888 - 5 stars)
15. Doubling The Canon (2010 update) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 5 stars)
16. British New Wave (collaborative: moderated by nexus - 4 stars)
17. TimeOut Magazine's 100 best British films (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 3 stars)
18. British Classic Films with good ratings (pre-70s) (collaborative: moderated by 90sCoffee - 3 stars)
19. Cannes 1963 Official Selection (collaborative: moderated by djross - 1 star)
20. BAFTA Award for Best British Film (Nominees) (collaborative: moderated by ellinikos - 1 star)
21. Doubling the Canon (2011 update) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 1 star)
22. Doubling the Canon (2012 update) (collaborative: moderated by Cinephile - 1 star)
23. Kitchen Sink Realism (collaborative: moderated by tirefeet - 1 star)
24. British director (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 1 star)
25. Woman Belting Out A Tune (Solo) (collaborative)
26. Next Up (collaborative: moderated by davidysteph)
27. Rugby (sport) (collaborative: moderated by Ag0stoMesmer)
28. Medeia 2020: English new wave (collaborative: moderated by pmpfe)
29. Watchlist (public: allegreller)
30. Barry Norman's top 49 British films (public: juandr)
Browse the full list of collections
| Date | User | Rating | |
| Aug 13, 2020 |  |
KasperL | 60 50th |
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I'm not crazy about Harris' performance, and it's difficult to understand why he has so great affection for Roberts' character, but it's a solid character piece nevertheless.
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| Oct 20, 2016 |  |
JakeAesthete | 33 30th |
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Richard Harris imitating Brando and hitting women isn't nearly as compelling or pathos-laden as Anderson seems to think it is. Hard to believe this is the same guy who made O Lucky Man.
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| Apr 06, 2012 |  |
wayofthegun | 90 89th |
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Really well-made film with a tour-de-force performance (possibly an all-time great) by Richard Harris.
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| Jan 10, 2012 |  |
fenixdown | 72 43rd |
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I had high hopes for this one - however I was a little underwhelmed by the cinematic style. I can get behind the idea of British free cinema, as long as I don't have to watch any more of them.
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| Dec 16, 2010 |  |
PeaceAnarchy | 84 77th |
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Great character study buoyed by fantastic performances and unrelenting direction. The non linear narrative felt unnecessarily confusing but, with the strength lying in the emotions of the characters and harsh ambiance, it wasn't a big problem.
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| Dec 12, 2010 |  |
paulofilmo | 74 90th |
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Psychotic.
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| May 11, 2010 |  |
Moribunny | 73 79th |
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It has a lot of clarity... which sometimes almost makes it blunt or melodramatic, but which may also save the movie from pretentiousness. I guess it may be dark enough without obscuring anything on top of that. The excellent acting really helps it work.
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| Jan 25, 2009 |  |
TonythePony | 82 79th |
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Tale of brutish ambition and the inevitable damage wrought on the fragile people and objects it hopes to possess. Harris is outstanding in his savage and frustrated attempts to express himself. Anderson composes some starkly beautiful shots and also incorporates some effective rugby league scenes.
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| Nov 19, 2008 |  |
JooJoo | 5 80th |
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Probably the best that these early British social realism films had to offer.
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| Aug 24, 2008 |  |
tonydal | 80 74th |
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Maybe about half an hour too long (although having said that, I don't know what I'd cut out of it). Melodramatic bursts of music at the start and finish. We also get to (or have to) hear Harris warming up for "MacArthur Park" several years later.
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| Mar 01, 2007 |  |
TheDiceman | 70 82nd |
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Excellent film.
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| Jan 17, 2007 |  |
MartinTeller | 84 81st |
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A stark, bleak downer of a film, centered around a relationship obviously doomed from the start. There really isn't a single bright moment to be found, and Anderson lets every depressing moment play out in harsh realism. Richard Harris is superb in the lead, seething with brutality and frustration like a British Brando. The narrative, told partly in flashback, does occasionally make the chronology confusing.
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| Average Percentile 67.53% from 278 Ratings |  |