This Sporting Life (1963)

 Lindsay Anderson's "This Sporting Life"

Although a commercial failure upon its release, Lindsay Anderson's 1963 film "This Sporting Life" went on to become one of the standards of the British 'kitchen sink dramas.' The film stars Richard Harris as Frank, a bitter young coal miner who finally makes it in a local rugby league. The problem, however, is that he continues to be the heel of his own life, as his disposition pushes everyone around him away.

My admiration for the film extends to the brilliant frustration both towards our protagonist as well as his inability to gain any respect or better life. It's not unfamiliar for the protagonist of a British kitchen sink drama to be unlikeable. In fact, it probably wouldn't be a kitchen sink drama without one. However, the external circumstances revolving around economic disparity and existential meaninglessness is what drives the unlikeable behavior of the protagonist. 

When our protagonist - Frank - is able to attain a new career that pays better, he still doesn't gain the respect of anyone around him. He tries desperately to fit in to the higher economic class by buying his love interest a new fur coat, buying an expensive car, and going to the most expensive restaurant. However, his brutish behavior ensures that he will never 'fit in' with anyone from a higher economic stratosphere. 

The inability to fit in and the continued perceptions that he is a poor, wailing brute of a man only drives his behavior further and further into more aggression. Watching the film is simply watching the tragedy of modern people trying to 'make it.' I loved the unrelenting descent into operable circumstances. Our protagonist is trapped by his standing. Perhaps the more tragic notion is that he is trapped by WHO he is.

The final tragedy of "This Sporting Life" is the effect it had on the British film industry. The box office for it was so bad, that the production company of the film, The Rank Organisation, announced it would no longer venture further with "kitchen sink" projects. This saw a rapid decline in the genre, making "This Sporting Life" the last of one of its kind.