Free Cinema was a documentary film movement that emerged in the United Kingdom in the mid-1950s. The term referred to an absence of propagandised intent or deliberate box office appeal. Co-founded by Lindsay Anderson (but he later disdained the 'movement' tag) with Karel Reisz , Tony Richardson and Lorenza Mazzetti , the movement began with a programme of three short films at the National Film Theatre , London on 5 February 1956. The programme was such a success that five more programmes appeared under the ‘Free Cinema’ banner before the founders decided to end the series. The last event was held in March 1959. Three of the screenings consisted of work from overseas filmmakers.
24-545: Together with Gavin Lambert , Anderson and Reisz had previously founded the short-lived but influential journal Sequence , of which Anderson later wrote 'No Film Can Be Too Personal'. So ran the initial pronouncement in the first Free Cinema manifesto. It could equally well have been the motto of SEQUENCE'. The manifesto was drawn up by Anderson and Mazzetti at a Charing Cross cafe named The Soup Kitchen, where Mazzetti worked. It read: These films were not made together; nor with
48-473: A non-synchronised soundtrack added separately. Most of the films deliberately omitted narration. The film-makers shared a determination to focus on ordinary, largely working-class British subjects. They felt these people had been overlooked by the middle-class -dominated British film industry of the time. The founders of the movement were dismissive of mainstream documentary film-making in Britain, particularly of
72-424: A shabby attic flat, which they share with Jimmy's best friend and business partner, Cliff. Despite graduating from university, Jimmy and Cliff make a meagre living running a sweet -stall in the local market. Jimmy's inability to climb the socioeconomic ladder, coupled with other injustices he sees around him make him angry at society, particularly to those in authority. He takes out his frustrations on his wife Alison,
96-621: A style’ meant that ‘a style is not a matter of camera angles or fancy footwork, it's an expression, an accurate expression of your particular opinion’. The first ‘Free Cinema’ programme featured just three films: The films were accompanied by the above provocative film manifesto , written chiefly by Anderson, which brought the film-makers valuable publicity. Later programmes brought in like minded filmmakers, among them Alain Tanner and Claude Goretta (with Nice Time ), Michael Grigsby and Robert Vas . The two film technicians closely associated with
120-401: A submissive girl from an upper-middle-class family. Jimmy's love for Alison is mixed with contempt, as he feels she never had to experience want, pain, or suffering. He verbally abuses her telling her, in temper, that he wishes she would have a child that would die. Unbeknownst to Jimmy, Alison is pregnant, and having mixed feelings about the pregnancy and her marriage. Tensions heighten between
144-428: Is a 1959 British kitchen sink drama film starring Richard Burton , Claire Bloom and Mary Ure and directed by Tony Richardson . The film is based on John Osborne 's play about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected working-class young man (Jimmy Porter), his upper-middle-class, impassive wife (Alison) and her haughty best friend (Helena Charles). Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep
168-461: Is irrelevant. Perfection is not an aim. An attitude means a style. A style means an attitude. At an interview in 2001, Mazzetti explained that the reference to size was prompted by the then-new experiments in CinemaScope and other large screen formats. "The image speaks" was an assertion of the primacy of the image over the sound. Reisz said that ‘An attitude means
192-541: The Documentary Film Movement of the 1930s and 1940s associated with John Grierson , although they made an exception for Humphrey Jennings . Another acknowledged influence was French director Jean Vigo (1905–34). Free Cinema bears some similarities to the cinéma vérité and Direct Cinema movements. Free Cinema was a major influence on the British New Wave of the late 1950s and early 1960s, and all of
216-720: The kitchen sink realism genre, and many of them are adaptations of novels or plays written by members of Britain's so-called " angry young men ". Gavin Lambert Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 752604251 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:31:22 GMT Look Back in Anger (1959 film) Look Back in Anger
240-433: The couple when Alison invites her assertive friend, Helena, whom Jimmy loathes, to temporarily stay with them. After witnessing Jimmy's treatment of Alison, Helena persuades Alison to leave Jimmy on the same day that Ma Tanner, who lent Jimmy the money to set up his stall, has a fatal stroke. Eventually, Alison moves out and departs with her kindly father, Colonel Redfern, who has come to collect her. A grieving Jimmy returns to
264-481: The deal because of the choice of director. Saltzman and Richardson persuaded Richard Burton to take on the title role, at a much lower fee than his accustomed Hollywood payoff. (His fee for the film was $ 125,000.) It is not known what Kenneth Haigh , who had created the role, thought of this. The idea of recruiting Nigel Kneale to extend the play into a screenplay is credited to the influential theatre critic Kenneth Tynan (who had been in large part responsible for
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#1732858282728288-538: The film performed "better than average" at the British box office in 1959. The film was nominated in four categories for the 1959 BAFTA Awards : Best British Actor (Richard Burton), Best British Film, Best British Screenplay (Nigel Kneale) and Best Film from any Source. However, it won none, the winners being respectively Peter Sellers ( I'm All Right Jack ), Sapphire , Frank Harvey , John Boulting and Alan Hackney for I'm All Right Jack and Ben-Hur . Burton
312-557: The flat to find Alison gone, and learns for the first time that she is pregnant. He starts an emotional tirade with Helena, who first slaps him but then kisses him passionately, and the two begin an affair. Months later, Jimmy and Helena have settled into a comfortable relationship, but Jimmy is still hurt at Alison's departure. She, living in her parents' tranquil home, is having a precarious pregnancy, and fears that Jimmy's wish for her to suffer tragedy might come true. Cliff decides to strike out on his own, and Jimmy and Helena see him off at
336-472: The founders except Mazzetti would make films associated with the movement. Richardson directed Look Back in Anger (1958), A Taste of Honey (1961) and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962); Reisz directed Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960); and Anderson directed This Sporting Life (1963) and If.... (1968). Many of these films have also been categorized as part of
360-439: The idea of showing them together. But when they came together, we felt they had an attitude in common. Implicit in this attitude is a belief in freedom, in the importance of people and the significance of the everyday. As filmmakers we believe that No film can be too personal. The image speaks. Sound amplifies and comments. Size
384-528: The incredible success of the play). Osborne was relieved at not having to do the job and handed over story rights for a mere £2,000. The part of the doctor was specially created for George Devine , the artistic director of the English Stage Company and the man to whom Osborne most owed his success. Glen Byam Shaw , Devine's longtime collaborator (they created the Young Vic Company), was handed
408-555: The market scenes were shot in Deptford market; the railway station was Dalston Junction . Deptford and Dalston are in fact in the London area. The first market scenes were shot in the centre of Romford Market , Romford , Essex (now in the east London Borough of Havering ). The scenes showing the street outside Jimmy and Alison Porter's flat were filmed in Harvist Road, London N7. The road
432-620: The movement were Walter Lassally and John Fletcher. The three of the six programmes were devoted to foreign work, including the new Polish cinema (fourth programme), emerging French New Wave (fifth programme); and American independent filmmaker Lionel Rogosin was invited to screen his ground-breaking film On the Bowery at the second Free Cinema programme in September 1956. That event also included Norman McLaren 's Neighbours and Georges Franju 's Le Sang des bêtes . The films were free in
456-399: The peace. The character of Ma Tanner, only referred to in the play, is brought to life in the film by Edith Evans as a dramatic device to emphasise the class difference between Jimmy and Alison. The film and play are classic examples of the British cultural movement known as kitchen sink realism. Jimmy and Alison Porter, a young married couple, live in a Midlands industrial town ( Derby ) in
480-474: The railway station. After Cliff's train departs, Jimmy and Helena see Alison sitting disconsolately in the station. Alison explains to Helena that she has lost the baby and Helena, realizing that she was wrong to break up their marriage, informs Jimmy that she is leaving him. Jimmy and Alison reconcile. Look Back in Anger was produced by the Canadian impresario Harry Saltzman , who was seen an obvious choice as he
504-525: The role of Colonel Redfern. Two other members of the English Stage Company, Nigel Davenport and Alfred Lynch , were given small roles as commercial salesmen who try to pick up Alison and Helena in the railway station bar. The Chris Barber jazz band appears in the opening scenes set at a jazz club. Interiors were shot at Elstree Studios in September 1958. Some establishing shots were shot in Derby but
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#1732858282728528-637: The sense that they were made outside the confines of the film industry and were distinguished by their style and attitude and the conditions of production. All of the films were made cheaply, for no more than a few hundred pounds, mostly with grants from the British Film Institute 's Experimental Film Fund. Some of the later films were sponsored by the Ford Motor Company or funded independently. They were typically shot in black and white on 16mm film , using lightweight, hand-held cameras, usually with
552-422: Was a fan of the play and it was he who had urged Osborne and Richardson to set up Woodfall Film Productions . The film was to be Woodfall's first production. Osborne insisted, against resistance from Saltzman, that Richardson was the right man to direct the film. Richardson had directed the original theatrical production but had no track record in feature films. The original backer, J. Arthur Rank , pulled out of
576-512: Was later demolished by Islington Borough Council and rebuilt as the Harvist Estate. The film was not successful at first. Westminster Council gave it an X certificate , and it opened on 29 May 1959 during one of London's rare heatwaves. Tim Adler wrote that Richardson never found out whether the film made a profit. Burton was widely felt to be too old and mature-looking for the young character he played. According to Kinematograph Weekly
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