REBEL, REBEL: THE FILMS OF LINDSAY ANDERSON

We celebrate the work of a filmmaker who rejuvenated British cinema in the 1960s and whose satires tore into the foundations of the country’s establishment. Like his Gallic peers in the French New Wave, Lindsay Anderson began his film career as a critic, often bemoaning the lack of objectivity in the profession and espousing strident political opinions that would make their way into his work both as a filmmaker and an acclaimed theatre director. He was a key member of Free Cinema, a loose collective of documentary filmmakers who challenged the way everyday lives were represented on the screen. And his importance as a filmmaker would only increase as part of the British New Wave, whose work, including his ‘This Sporting Life’ (1963), would raise the profile of the ‘kitchen sink’ drama and its focus on the working class. But it was with ‘If….’ (1968) that Anderson produced one of the classics of British cinema – an iconoclastic masterpiece that has lost little of its power. This season covers Anderson’s early documentary work, his two classics, the satires ‘O Lucky Man!’ (1973) and’ Britannia Hospital’ (1982), alongside the lesser known ‘The White Bus’ (1967) and his final narrative feature, the elegiac ‘The Whales of August’ (1987). With a contextual talk that will also encompass his theatre and written work, this retrospective not only looks back on Anderson’s career, it also reflects on cinema’s power to provoke as well as entertain.

Tue 15 Aug 13:30 – Studio

Lindsay Anderson In Focus

An illustrated talk by Ian Haydn Smith

Lindsay Anderson was a dominant force in British cinema for three decades, both as a critic and filmmaker. As his career as a director was taking off, he also branched into theatre. He established the Royal Court as a base for radical experimentation and political provocation, his views about Britain and British life also playing a crucial role in much of his film work.

Ian Haydn Smith will not only discuss Anderson’s films within the context of the era in which they were made, he will also locate the director’s work within the wider landscape of world cinema. From his early documentary shorts through to the critical highpoint of the 1960s and early ’70s, this talk will also examine how working across various art forms gave Anderson’s work a vitality whose spark still burns brightly today. He will use excerpts from Anderson’s films and will open with a screening of one of the finest, the short ‘O Dreamland’ (1956).

90M

Fri 11 Aug 10:30 – Auditorium

This Sporting Life

Anderson’s debut feature is a ruthless portrait of a professional rugby player and his brutish world. Richard Harris’ first starring role and his career breakthrough came with this slice of Northern grit. He plays Frank Machin, a hardened and bitter coal miner in West Riding, whose pent-up aggression makes him perfect for the local rugby league team. He rents a room in a house owned by Margaret Hammond (an excellent Rachel Roberts), a widow whom Frank attempts to woo. But a fatalistic streak makes Frank a danger to all those around him. Adapted by David Storey from his novel, ‘This Sporting Life’ is an extraordinary debut by Anderson and one of the finest British films of the 1960s.

UK 1963 LINDSAY ANDERSON 134M

Lindsay Anderson Free Cinema Double Bill

THE WHITE BUS AND EVERY DAY EXCEPT CHRISTMAS

A pair of Anderson’s wonderful short films –‘The White Bus’ is a cult classic observation of a woman’s trip round Manchester. ‘Every Day Except Christmas’ is an evocative day in the life of Covent Garden Market.

THE WHITE BUS

Written by Shelagh Delaney (‘A Taste of Honey’), ‘The White Bus’ tells the story of an unnamed young woman (Patricia Healey) who has moved from Salford to work in London but returns for a day to board a double-decker bus and take a sightseeing tour of her home city. It’s a fascinating snapshot of an era and includes the screen debut of Anthony Hopkins.

UK 1967 LINDSAY ANDERSON 46M

EVERY DAY EXCEPT CHRISTMAS

‘Every Day Except Christmas’ is Anderson’s rich and moving portrait of Covent Garden when it was London’s major flower market. Compassionate and poetic, it is one of the high points of the Free Cinema movement and showcased Anderson’s skill as a filmmaker.

Tue 15 Aug 16:00 – Studio

Fri 25 Aug 15:00 – Pic Palace

UK 1957 LINDSAY ANDERSON 41M