Colin Smith, a rebellious teenager, has just been sentenced to a boy's reformatory for robbing a bakery. Sent to Borstal, an institution specializing in juvenile offenders, Colin quickly draws the eye of the governor of the institution, thanks to his prowess as a long distance runner, something he gained a talent for due to running from the police so much as a youth. Chosen to represent Borstal in a cross country race against a public school, Colin is promised special treatment by the Governor if he wins, sending Colin in a psychological struggle where his resentment for 'the man", 'the system", and the privileged make him re-evaluate his current star status at Borstal. Featuring some very imaginative direction from Tony Richardson, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a visceral portrait of teenage angst, being one of the better films about "angry young men" and youthful expression. Using a narrative that routinely jumps between the past and present, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner creates a vivid portrait of a young man whose grown increasingly angry at a system that turns its back on the less privileged. Throughout the narrative, the film uses the past to educate the viewer on the present psyche of Colin Smith, a young man who lost his father, a day laborer, at a very young age, showing how his sad and often tragic experiences as a youth have shaped his present angst at a system that has portrayed him. Tony Richardson's portrait of youthful aggression is very much an allegory of the faults of consumerism and class, bringing urgency and energy to his story through editing and direction that elevates the whole experience. The camera movements, editing decisions, framing, everything in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is imaginative and takes chances, and while some are sure to find it a little "pretentious" or distracting, what Tony Richardson has created in my eyes a film that's frantic visual style perfectly compliments its main protagonists angst. Even the long distance running itself is a symbolic representation of Colin's faults, a character whose always runaway from his problems, though it ultimately proves the key to his salvation as well.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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