SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Leofwine_draca THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER is director Tony Richardson's follow-up to A TASTE OF HONEY and another kitchen sink drama. However, this one's much better than his previous constrained effort, as this explores working class life and struggles on a much grander tableau. The main character is a teenage running champion whose life in a borstal is explored in the grittiest of detail while his back story is explored via flashbacks.The story is well cast and accentuated by the ring of authenticity. Tom Courtenay is exceptional as the protagonist, never smiling, never happy, but at the same time proving ultimately sympathetic given his background and story. A strong supporting cast including Michael Redgrave, James Bolam, and even John Thaw help to propel things along. The situations remain interesting and are surprisingly undated given the film's age, and there's always some drama to keep your mind occupied. I particularly enjoyed the ending, which would seem insignificant to an outsider with no knowledge of the film's plot, but which becomes almost an epic struggle to those who have sat through the preceding narrative.

thecatcanwait What a great find off YouTube this was. Adapted by Alan Silitoe from a short story.Colin Smith (Tom Courtney) has been sent to a Borstal. He's not feeling remorseful for the petty pinching "wrong" he did: "I got caught – I didn't run fast enough".Turns out he's probably gonna be on the run, running away, all his life. But he seems to like running, is born to run – and he runs fast; "All i know is you've got to run, run without knowing why" We get flashbacks to his "previous" life, all run-of-the-mill working class delinquent stuff: pinching a car with mate Mike (James Bolam); picking up a couple of birds, going off on a joy ride. Dreams of going down to London. A quick snog with the birds. Return car. A couple of mischievous misfits – harmless really.Back we go to the Remand Centre for naughty boys where Smith can turn himself into a good boy if he wins the Cup for The Governor; only he won't allow himself to be corrupted by a non-working class, institutionalised, poncey, version of being good: "I'm gonna let them think they've got me house-trained. But they never will – the bastards". Another version of Arthur Seaton's "Don't let the bastards grind you down" is Colin Smith.Flashbacks to back story: Dad dies. With £500 cash pay-out mother is going on a shopping spree, buys a telly. Colin is not impressed. He burns the (blood) money she gives him. Those birds are picked up again, taken to Skeggy, snogged a bit, fallen in love with a bit. He's confessing to his bird Audrey (Topsy Jane) this sad realisation: "I run away to try and get lost. I was always trying to get lost when i was a kid.I soon found out that you can't get lost though".And then he's done a burglary with Mike and unwisely stuffed the cash up a drainpipe: "Whats the first thing you'd do if you won £75,000 quid? asks Mike" "Count it" comes the droll reply. Yeah, count it, make sure you know how much you've got even if you've got no idea what you'd do with how much you've got. Mike asks, "What do you want to do Col?" "I don't know. Live i suppose. See what happens" says Colin. Hasn't got a clue what to do with his hopeless life has Colin Smith. Except keep running fast, running off, running away.And running free. Which the Governor has allowed Colin to do: run unsupervised outside the perimeter fence. Trusts him. Cus he's "the Governors blue-eyed boy now" isn't he? No he's not. He's not been "had". He's gonna want to lose that race surely. I was ambivalent watching him run it (which i suppose is what i was meant to be feeling) I wanted him to lose the Cup (for The Governor). But i didn't want him to lose the race (for himself) And in the end he didn't lose. Or did he? Well, he hadn't lost his self-respect.And he'd won.At being a loser.Which is frequently where you can find all your slowed down "thievin little bastards" like Colin Smith.

David Allen The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner (1962 English) starring Tom Courtenay, Sir Michael Redgrave, written by Alan Sillitoe, and directed by Tony Richardson is one of the very best movies ever made.It is a "coming of age" story of a young and immature high school aged boy played well by Tom Courtenay (who won the BAFTA "Most Promising New Actor" award for his role) who is sent to a "progressive" English reform school (part of the infamous "Borstal School" system in greater London, England) and allowed unusual freedom there by the prison warden/ "headmaster" (wanna be) portrayed by Sir Michael Redgrave.Courtenay is a gifted athlete who excels at long distance running, the prison warden/ "headmaster" Redgrave arranges for an English public school (private boarding school for rich boys) to compete against the reform school in athletics with a special trophy given for the winner of a long distance running match which highlights the meet.Courtenay agrees to prepare for the athletic match, follows all the rules, appears to be a cooperative inmate headed for reform, but when the day of the athletic meet comes and the race is run he is supposed to win, intentionally allows his public school (private schools in England are called "public schools") competitor runner to beat him so the trophy the prison warden/ "headmaster" Redgrave lusts for does not come to the "progressive" reform school (actually a prison for teen aged convicted delinquent boys).The story is based on a short story written by the famous English writer from the 1950's named Alan Sillitoe who described the lives and oppressions of working class people in post WWII England, and portrayed the opposition of "have nots" against the "haves," and particularly against the various law enforcement and government henchmen working to support the upper classes and keep the lower classes in their place.The theme of "angry young men" during the 1950's in England was widely used in English drama and literature, and the possibility that young, strong, vigorous males in the lower classes might rise up and lead a successful revolt against the privileged and oppressive upper classes was suggested by "angry young men" stories such as The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner (1962) starring Tom Courtenay, Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (1960) starring Albert Finney, and even in a glamorized full color spectacle movie version of Henry Fielding's famous Tom Jones (1963) story starring Albert Finney and directed by Tony Richardson (who also directed "Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner").People in the early 1960's were hopeful that true socialism might replace the brutal capitalistic system which dominated the "free world" of those times in England, other parts of Europe, and eventually, the USA, and the tumult of the 1960's reflected how widespread and supported these hopes were.But the revolt of the 1960's and 1970's failed miserably, and socialistic moves which were put in place during the 1930's and 1940's in England (which got universal socialized health care medicine free to all citizens) and the USA (which got the New Deal and the War On Poverty, briefly) were systematically and carefully undone by the likes of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan in the 1980's, both agreed that "free enterprise" was the answer to social problems and needs, and that socialism was a disease to be fought and conquered and vanquished.------------------- Written by Tex Allen, SAG Actor. Visit WWW.IMDb.Com and choose "Tex Allen" "resume" for contact information, movie credits, and biographical information about Tex Allen. Tex Allen has reviewed more than 35 movies posted on the website WWW.IMDb.Com (the world's largest movie information database, owned by Amazon.Com) as of January 2011. These include: 1. Alfie (1966) 29 July 2009 2. Alien (1979) 24 July 2009 3. All the President's Men (1976) 16 November 2010 4. American Graffiti (1973) 22 November 2010 5. Animal House (1978) 16 August 2009 6. Bullitt (1968) 23 July 2009 7. Captain Kidd (1945) 28 July 2009 8. Child Bride (1938) 24 September 2009 9. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) 22 September 2010 10. Detour (1945) 19 November 2010 11. Die Hard 2 (1990) 23 December 2010 12. The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993) 19 November 2010 13. Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) 26 July 2009 14. King Solomon's Mines (1950) 1 December 2010 15. Knute Rockne All American (1940) 2 November 2010 16. Claire's Knee (1970) 15 August 2009 17. Melody Ranch (1940) 10 November 2010 18. Morning Glory (1933) 19 November 2010 19. New Moon (1940) 3 November 2010 20. Pinocchio (1940) 6 November 2010 21. R2PC: Road to Park City (2000) 19 November 2010 22. Salt (2010) 24 August 2010 23. Sunset Blvd. (1950) 1 December 2010 24. The Great Dictator (1940) 1 November 2010 25. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) 9 January 2011 26. The Man in the White Suit (1951) 5 August 2009 27. The Philadelphia Story (1940) 5 November 2010 28. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) 1 August 2009 29. The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) 14 August 2009 30. The Witchmaker (1969) 21 July 2009 31. Thousands Cheer (1943) 3 December 2010 32. Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) 24 November 2010 33. Wake Up and Live (1937) 27 July 2009 34. Witness for the Prosecution (1957) 1 August 2009 A full list of Tex Allen's movie reviews appearing on WWW.IMDb.Com with links to full texts of reviews is accessible via: http://imdb.com/user/ur15279309/comments Written by Tex Allen, SAG-AFTRA movie actor. Visit WWW.IMDb.Me/TexAllen for more information about Tex Allen. Tex Allen's email address is TexAllen@Rocketmail.Com.See Tes Allen Movie Credits, Biography, and 2012 photos at WWW.IMDb.Me/TexAllen. See other Tex Allen written movie reviews....almost 100 titles.... at: "http://imdb.com/user/ur15279309/comments" (paste this address into your URL Browser)

tieman64 "Running's always been a big thing in our family." – Colin SmithBritish New Wave at its best (or worst, depending on who you talk to), "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" stars Tom Courtenay as Colin Smith, the kind of "angry young man" so prevalent in films of the era (roughly from 1958's "A Look Back In Anger" to 1975's "In Celebration") that the phrase "angry young man cinema" had to be coined to distinguish such films from the other dour, working class flicks that typified the British New Wave. These were all films which featured down and dirty narratives about class warfare and worker struggles, their grungy realism helping to erode the Hays Production Code in the US and directly influencing the slew of gritty flicks that typified Hollywood's second golden age (late 1960s and 70s)."Runner's" central character is Colin Smith, an angsty Nottingham lad who lacks ambition, direction or even hope. Sent to a strict reform school for robbing a bakery, Colin turns into one of those imprisoned anti-establishment types (see "If", "Cool Hand Luke", "Bird Man of Alcatraz", "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", "The Hill" etc) who becomes angry at both the school's staff and ruling governor, a condescending man who tries to get Colin to be "good" and "conform"."Work hard and one day you may represent England in the Olympic Games," the governor says, recognising Colin's talents for long distance running. And so Colin begrudgingly begins to train everyday, getting up early, running, strengthening his body and working on his stamina. It seems like a mutual relationship: Colin is allowed to run free outside, whilst the governor gets a talented kid who can represent the institution in a high profile sporting event.Of course when this big event comes, in which Colin has to run a long distance race, Colin deliberately sabotages things. He runs up to the finishing line, proves he could have won, but then stops in his tracks, allowing all the other runners to comfortably beat him. That's how defiant he is, you see. He will not participate in your game.Like most of these films, there's a marked difference in how director Tony Richardson portrays the lower and the upper classes. The masters of the reform school are sadists, incompetents or snobs; tweedy traditionalists like the Governor or fumbling fanatics like the school's psychiatrist. In contrast, Colin and his lower class buddies are shown (via flashbacks) in various artfully depressing situations. They wade through a harsh and oppressive Nottingham landscape, filled with dark skies, towering factories, dead streets and railway tracks. Colin and his buddies go partying, play on the rails, pass time on the cold beaches, hit on girls (Colin's romantic relationship with a girl is quite pitiful, a desperate attempt to find some happiness), but there is a certain melancholic tone to such scenes. When Colin steals a car and robs a bakery, its more for thrills than an act of desperation. He doesn't like what Nottingham has to offer, knows his future, can't see a way out and so is resigned to a life of self-destruction. Or running.The film has faced much criticism over the decades, some believing that the film blames the lower classes for their own problems and that it portrays the poor as "running away from work" and "not working hard". When the reform school's governor throws Colin a lifeline, essentially giving him a chance to step up the ladder, these critics blame Colin for not being smart and taking the guy's help.But Colin represents the disillusionment that was clouding over the youth of 1960s Britain. He has a burning contempt for both a post-war capitalism which demands conformity, and a society built by the privileged for the privileged. When Colin finds these same social divisions in the reform school and sees how the school's Governor uses the working class for his own selfish gains, Colin essentially takes what he views to be the only ethical step. He proves both that he can compete, and then indicates that he nevertheless doesn't wish to be part of the Governor's game. The last shot of the film is of Colin, back in reform school, depressingly scrubbing gas masks (an odd choice, linking class stratification to both war and cannon fodder soldiers). Colin's gained self-respect, but director Tony Richardson is careful to show the price he's paid. Today, the film's "choose to not participate" rather than "win under someone else's terms" message is pretty much the last radical stance of most contemporary philosophers. Colin's Gandhian act of "doing nothing" is what philosophers like Badiou and Zizek call a "violent refusal" or "critical disengagement", a radical gesture in which one opts to do nothing in the face of the systemic violence inherent to our socio economic order; use a dollar and you bolster the machine. This is the same stance of Taoism and Zen non-action (localized acts of resistance only serve to make systems run more smoothly) and the driving force behind many of the existential prison and road movies of the 1960s and 70s, in which characters attempt to "flee", "not participate" and "just get up and leave". Today, a film like Richard Kelly's "The Box" highlight the way modern man is essentially born a default participant, a default runner, and how critical disengagement is now virtually impossible. See also Bresson's "The Devil Probably".8.5/10 – Other key films that defined the British New Wave: "A Taste of Honey", "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning", "Look Back In Anger", "The Entertainer", "This Sporting Life". Worth two viewings.