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3 used & new from CDN$ 49.00
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This Sporting Life
  
This Sporting Life (1963)
Starring: Richard Harris, Rachel Roberts Director: Lindsay Anderson
4.9 out of 5 stars  (8 customer reviews)

Availability: Available from these sellers.

3 used & new available from CDN$ 49.00

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Product Details

  • Actors: Richard Harris, Rachel Roberts, Alan Badel, William Hartnell, Colin Blakely
  • Directors: Lindsay Anderson
  • Format: Import, NTSC
  • Language: English
  • Number of tapes: 1
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  (8 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00004CK5S

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Product Description

From Amazon.com
Prolific British filmmaker Lindsay Anderson weaves this small, evocative tale of young life at the crossroads in early 1960s Northern England. A rough, sullen young man (Richard Harris) working in the local coal mines begins to make a name for himself as a star rugby player, but even as he begins to fall in love he cannot escape the harsh realities of the bleak life around him. The rugby sequences in the film are striking, but no more so than the depiction of downtrodden people living in the shadow of industry and corruption that too often crushes their spirit. Harris in one of his first roles, is remarkably effective as an unlikable but sympathetic figure trying against hope to savor the small joys life has to offer, and the film also features the debut of renowned actress Glenda Jackson. One of a series of working-class, character-driven British imports, This Sporting Life is one of the best on the field. --Robert Lane

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star: 87%  (7)
4 star: 12%  (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
 
 
 
 
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful English drama, Feb 9 2004
This review is from: This Sporting Life (Widescreen) (DVD)
This drama offers a gripping story and outstanding performances. The affair between a frigid widow and a professional rugby player who carries the violence of the football field into his personal life is painfully detailed and will have you captivated throughout the whole film.
A powerful film characteristic of the British dramas of the 50⤙s and 60⤙s based on working class life in rural England. Director Lindsay Anderson is one of the major contributors to this genre.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Stark, but compelling - A working class masterpiece, Jan 25 2004
By Shane A Whitmell (Helensvale, Queensland Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: This Sporting Life (Widescreen) (DVD)
The greatest sports movie ever made. The story of a miner in Yorkshire using his sporting skill in an attempt to escape the harshness of the industrial north east of the mid sixties.
This great sport, Rugby League, was born of the toughness and physicality that these hard men faced in their everyday lives.

Richard Harris is brilliant in the lead role of Frank Machin, and the Rugby League scenes are the most realistic portrayal of sport ever bought to the screen.

A true masterpiece and a snapshot of the cruel realities that shape other peoples lives.

An essential addition to every serious collector of dramatic sports cinema.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Harris' Finest Performance, Oct 8 2003
By Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: This Sporting Life (Widescreen) (DVD)
While viewing this film again recently, I was curious to see if it has lost any of its edge since I first saw it almost 40 years ago. It hasn't. In fact, in light of almost daily revelations of inappropriate (if not illegal) conduct by professional and even by so-called amateur athletes, it has perhaps even more relevance today. In my opinion, Richard Harris (Frank Machin) delivers his finest performance as a coal miner in Northern England (Yorkshire) who gains fame and fortune as a professional rugby player. I am reminded of Scorcese and De Niro's presentation of Jake La Motta in Raging Bull. (Both athletes fail in their personal relationships for precisely the same reasons they succeed in competition.) Rachel Roberts plays Mrs. Hammond, the only person Machin sincerely cares about, other than himself. Most of the time, she endures his use and abuse of her but in one memorable scene, she confronts him as the arrogant bully he is. He appreciates her only after....

David Storey wrote the screenplay based on his novel (same title) and, under Lindsay Anderson's crisp and sure direction, each member of the cast delivers a superb performance, including Glenda Jackson in what I think is her debut role. The colorful, often violent action on various playing fields is effectively portrayed, in stunning contrast with the drab lives of those who cheer on the teams. Credit Denys Coop for the cinematography. In essence, this film explores the nature and extent of one man's raw ambition and almost animalistic determination as his natural talents enable him to seize opportunities available to few others. Comparisons of This Sporting Life with Raging Bull are not a stretch. (Presumably De Niro saw this film prior to portraying La Motta. Did Harris see Brando in On the Waterfront before portraying Machin?) This is a dark film in terms of its tone and setting; also in terms of what it reveals about the values of young men such as Machin whose fame and fortune can be gone so quickly, and often unexpectedly. Then what? Within its own self-imposed limits, this is a "classic" film.

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 		 Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Great film
The movies actually about a Rugby League player, not a Rugby player - had it been a Rugby player I definitely wouldn't have watched the movie. Read more
Published on Nov 19 2002 by Anthony Webb

5.0 out of 5 stars A British Masterpiece of the 1960s
This masterpiece by Lindsay Anderson should be on any film aficionado's must-see list. It is an uncompromising study of alienation, social class, maturity, and loneliness. Read more
Published on May 2 2000 by mackjay

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard
Richard Harris uses all his knowledge and love of rugby football in his award nominated role. If the footballing parts of this movie are not for the faint hearted, then neither is... Read more
Published on April 20 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Gritty Working-Class Drama
Richard Harris is superb (and so young!) as a driven but unsophisticated rugby player struggling to make something of himself. Read more
Published on Jan 10 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic
This is the British "Streetcar Named Desire." Harris rock and rolls as an unforgiving animal rugger. Read more
Published on Jun 22 1999

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