Posts Tagged ‘British New Wave cinema’

I can’t say how 20-somethings in the rest of the country are fairing at the moment, but in LA it seems like “unemployment” is the buzzword of the year among most of my peers. What boggles and frustrates me is to look around and see many highly intelligent, capable, and industrious people who are either working as telemarketers, pizza delivery drivers, and volunteers–or, not at all. Lately it feels like it’s getting worse. How many unpaid internships does one have to work until something finally gives?

The good people over at the Getty must feel the tension in the air. They’re putting on a series of films this and next weekend that few can appreciate like the embittered and unemployed. The “Four Angry Young Men” Series begins this Saturday with Tony Richardson’s “Look Back in Anger” (1958) and Karel Reisz’s “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning” (1960), and closes next weekend with Lindsay Anderson’s “This Sporting Life” (1963) and Richardson’s “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” (1962). All four are directed by the founders of Britain’s New Wave Cinema and its precursory “no film can be too personal” Free Cinema Movement, whose aims were to spotlight the mostly overlooked lives of the struggling working class, dealing with issues of class consciousness, sex, dissatisfaction, and disillusionment. Ah, disillusionment. The films feature the young actors Richard Burton, Albert Finney, Richard Harris, and Tom Courtenay respectively, with the stunning Rachel Roberts playing in both “This Sporting Life” and “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.”

Best of all, all four screenings are free! Comfort certainly for a broken wallet, and there’s something everyone – even the monied old bluebloods out there – can enjoy.

- By Helen Kearns

For more information about the screenings and to make ticket reservations, visit the Getty’s website.

(Image from “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner”)