‘We don’t have stars in this game, Mrs Weaver, that’s soccer...’
Any list of the greatest films of all time will always be positively overrun with films from the French new wave and Italian neorealism movies. I’m here to fight the corner for the British kitchen sink dramas of the ’60s and ’70s. Kitchen sink realism is a window into working-class life in Britain in just the same way as the French and Italian equivalents were. It is only the latter’s exoticism and penchant for avant-grade filmmaking that so arouses the interest of film critics. The British kitchen sink dramas are just as incendiary and vital, yet they never receive equal billing with their European cousins. This Sporting Life is proof positive that this is grossly unfair…
Tough aspiring rugby player Frank Machin (Richard Harris) dreams of escaping his job at the factory to become a professional rugby player. His scandalous relationship with widow Mrs Hammond (Rachel Roberts) and his violent behaviour on the pitch ensure that he soon acquires a level of ignominy that threatens his career.
Director Lindsay Anderson shoots the rugby scenes in gladiatorial slow motion. This combined with some ingenious editing helps to demonstrate Frank’s deteriorating mental state. Harris provides a performance for the ages, equalling anything that James Dean or Marlon Brando produced during that same era. He is at once as hard as nails and utterly vulnerable, and the fact that his generic northern English accent comes and goes is rendered irrelevant due to the sheer strength of his performance. Roberts too is excellent, epitomising the idea of the stiff upper lip in the face of overwhelming and powerful emotions. In the moments in which these emotions spill over, Roberts really shines. Indeed, it is a testament to the quality of the acting in this film that both Harris and Roberts were nominated for acting gongs at the Oscars.
This Sporting Life is one of the finest British films ever made – an utter triumph.