The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

source: The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

I've seen this film a few times over the years. When I was younger I could relate to Colin Smith to some extent, having spent 10 years in an authoritarian boarding school in my youth. However, I now tend to look at it with a more critical eye. It puzzles me that Sillitoe chose to use the word "loneliness" in the title, since Smith obviously gets some pleasure and comfort from his running. I don't know the answer but perhaps the "loneliness" means "isolation" or "alienation". A barrier that simply can't be overcome. The governor of the borstal actually strikes me as being quite a kindly man, and seems to have some genuine interest in Smith's welfare. Perhaps he feels that by showing the borstal boys that they can compete favourably with boys from more privileged backgrounds it will help to break down what they may view as an impassable (and possibly unjust) class barrier and give them some confidence going forward in life. In the case of Smith, this turns out to be a complete failure. Like his father before him who proudly spurned medical attention (and died soon afterwards - there's no pride like the pride of the poor!), he spurns the opportunity to take himself out of his condition. Though this no doubt gives him some momentary satisfaction, he will probably look back on it with regret in the grim grim years that lie ahead. Whatever Sillitoe intended, it still has power and relevance today.

**SPOILERS** One of the best and most thought-provoking films to come out of England during its "New Age" cinema revolution back in the late 1950's and early 1960's "the Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" never really got the recognition, from both moviegoers and film critics, that it so rightfully deserved at the time of its release back in 1962. 18 year-old Colin Smith,Tom Courtenay,never had the opportunities that most young men his age had in both education and social relationships. Gowing up in the poverty stricken section of Nottingham England Colin, a high school drop out, was now forced to became the Smith family bread winner. That's when Colin's father who despite having available to him the best of health care, due to the British free and government sponsored health system, opted to die at home without being cared and treated for his illness, a result from his work at the plant, at a local government financed hospital free of charge. It was Colin's life of petty crime, since he either refused or could't find a job, that lead to his incarceration into the Ruxton Towers medium security boys reformatory out in the Nottingham countryside. Being a nonconformist and not wanting to take orders Colin does in fact find an outlet to his frustrations in life in long distance running. It there that he can reflect on the life he lead, and is still leading, that's leading him nowhere but to a life behind bars or, like his dad, an early grave. The reformatory's headmaster The Governor, Michael Redgrave, is obsessed in Ruxton Towers winning the five mile cross-country race and sees in Colin, who's by far the fastest boy on his running team, the person who can make his dream come true. This has Colin given all the freedom he needs by being allowed to run for hours, outside the conferment of the reformatory, to build up his wind and leg strength for the upcoming big race against Ruxton Towers rival in the cross-country race the exclusive prep school Ranley. It's during these long and lonely running sessions out in the Nottingham countryside that Colin starts to get a new insight on life. It's that insight that will have Colin overcome his fears not only of the outside world but reinforce his, being the nonconformist that he is, independence in him resisting being made to play ball with authority figures like the Governor; Who despite his good intentions for Colin is only interested in using the troubled young man to farther his own career! ***SPOILER ALERT***As the big race nears Colin's resentment in him being used for other people's, like the Governor, gains starts to conflict with his wanting to win the race for his own glory and salvation. Colin had been told by the Governor that if he wins he'll be released and given a chance to compete for England in the upcoming Olympics. What the Governor doesn't quite realize that is that the only salvation that Colin wants is freedom from being controlled and manipulated by men of authority like him! And it's in that grueling five mile long race that Coiln will show the Governor, and everyone in attendance, not just what he's made of, in his running ability, but how he can turn it on or off to his and only his, not the Governor's, advantage!

All the good performances and technical flourishes can't hide the fact that Colin Smith is a bit of an idiot. Sure he has a right to be angry, living as he does in a less than loving family and as he faces a life with limited opportunities, but rather than struggle to make something of himself he seems content to be a loser. He truly is the rebel without a clue. The thing that gets on my nerves most about 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner' is the way that it revels in every-day criminality. Just take the bakery robbery. I can appreciate the desperation that leads people to commit such acts, and I can certainly sympathise with it, but when it's just a bit of a lark – as the speeded up film suggests – I can't help but be glad when they get caught. Colin Smith got what he deserved. Now perhaps I take things too seriously, but I really do find it hard to give much of a damn about a character that is quite rightly locked away and one who squanders the opportunities that are given to him. After all, the warder gives him a chance to make something of himself. He has a chance to find a direction. But instead he gives everyone a big 'up yours'. I must say though that if the system was incredibly oppressive it would be a great ending, but instead it has me shrugging my shoulders. Sure the warder is using him for his own ends and sure life in borstal is far from fun, but he's a thief and a criminal after all and the regime as portrayed in the film is nowhere near as bad as it could be – it's a million miles away from the infinitely superior 'Scum'. Instead all it comes down to is petty working class pride. After all, his best friend is appalled at how favoured he's become and isn't shy about voicing his disgust. But rather than rebel against the people that are truly keeping him down – his friends who reinforce his low expectations – he rebels against the one man that might help him become something. Yet because it's a working class lad against an upper class man we're supposed to cheer. Well, perhaps forty years ago I may have done that very thing, but now I can't help but look at Colin Smith and see him as an idiot. He's a man who squanders his chances. He's a man who'll never amount to anything. He's a loser.

I saw the last few minutes of this flick on Tyne Tees telly a couple of years after its theater rounds. In that part of England in those days there was only subsequent run at the Odeon, ABC and Majestic and I never got the chance to see it on a big screen. I can always hope. I also remember the lurid cover on the paperback as it sat on the rack at Boots alongside Brendan Behan's "Borstal Boy." I had to settle for Mickey Spillane or Ian Fleming instead. The film is far more gritty than Billy Liar, but Courtenay is identical in both roles in that he has to triumph over adversity in both films. In this role he rejects the life of his father which was subservience to the mill in favor of living large, but not very. In short he aspired to be a spiv just to blend in. But he needs to impress a couple of birds too, and that takes money -- and love of money is the root of all evil. Then he gets a mini-vacation in a castle stolen by Oliver Cromwell and eventually converted to a government-owned barracks to meet the conveniences of World War II. I have never seen the concrete post with barbed wire any other place than England. In this boot camp styled borstal he has to confront his demons and decide just exactly who he wants to be. The Head has an ax to grind with the local school and naively hopes that sports is the way to channel these boys' anger. Should that fail, there are posters plastering the walls touting a man's life in the army. And that's why this film doesn't waste a scene. Americans watching this film might have some trouble with an almost extinct dialect, but human nature does not change. Favorite scenes 1) when he burns the pound note and 2) the romp on the dunes at Skegness.

I definitely appreciated this movie. I've been wanting to see it for decades, so I was grateful to see it on the DVD rack. But ultimately the quotidian aspects of life in a juvie-penal system and goofs around the house, and the style of film-making are more valuable than its big pronouncement/redemption, that horrible ending. As it arrived, I was sitting there thinking "Oh please, not the usual dumb, simplistic ending..." but there it was, something out of an eighties teen movie. Tom sabotages his own marathon win as a finger-in-the-eye to both the wealthy and the coaches who are playing him. Gee... you really showed them. It's just exceptionally dumb, hollow and frustrating, even as a dramatic point. The character regards it as a triumph, but that's just a testimony to his mental stagnation; he's exactly where he was at the beginning. In the end all he values is destruction and passive aggression. I hope he enjoys them - it's all life is going to serve him. He'll have plenty of time to relive this one trifling 'success' in his life, while he's stuck in impoverished Stinkburg for the rest of time. Hooray, you were really true to yourself. ...and now you can get back to beating your wife.

A powerful and absorbing commentary on the plight of poor adolescents in working-class British society. The story is told through flashbacks, as a reform school delinquent recalls his troubled home life and the events that drove him to become what he is. Colin (Tom Courtenay), the rebellious young man, embodies the depths to which one can sink as a result of poverty. When his father dies, he is forced to become the figure of stability in the lives of his abrasive mother and all his siblings. The incessant desire for money, instilled in him by his mother, drives him to rob a bakery. This lands him in reform school, where his aptitude as a long distance runner catches the eye of the school's progressive governor (Michael Redgrave). The governor has resolved that his students must defeat the local public school in a race, and puts Colin in training to represent them. Running provides Colin with an opportunity to escape his problems, vent his aggressions, and consider his prospects. The governor takes a liking in him and begins giving him special privileges. He is forced to decide if he should continue with his defiant behavior, or instead play by the rules. Redgrave wisely plays the governor not as a stereotypical prison warden, but as a fair and rational man driven to win. Courtenay's performance is nothing short of brilliant. He captures all the agony of an individual forced to mature before his time, molded by a society which has no use for his kind. Do any of the inmates in the school really reform, or do they all just `play the game' until they are released? This is among the many pertinent questions raised by this key film of its time.

Well, I must say I'm very surprised. I've never really seen such an important conceptual movie ruined by such poor film-making. The post-war angst of this film, plus its youth culture concepts and even more important, its attempts at time at social realism, make a very biting and angry essay on social materialism and conformity of the time. The acting is amazing, and the arguments it makes are very poignant, but everything else at one point or another falls completely apart. For one thing, the story is predictable in a bad way--by the time the movie is a third of the way over, it's hard to pay attention because it's pretty obvious the decision he is going to make at the end, whatever his motivations (the revealing of which aren't nearly as surprising as they should of been). The cinematography was terrible! Many close-ups are indecipherable due to the fast movement of the bodies or characters within them, a lot of the mise-en-scene is cluttered in a distracting, "Wait, what are we supposed to be looking at?" way, and sometimes it seems like the filmmakers didn't care about the fact that their camera seems to be ready to fall over. One particular tracking shot down the side of the street was awful in a way that made me wonder, "Why did they even bother including it?" I get a sense that in many ways, this is a low-budget film, but I've seen enough films rise above their budget for much less important topics often enough that it feels almost like all the energy went into the scriptwriting and acting and by the time they got to the actual shooting, they all ran out of energy. The editing is uneven. Some parts of the editing are magnificent, mostly with the running/flash-back style cuts and montages. The continuity editing is terrible, and half the time it looks like they just didn't care where the shot ended, just as long as they had another shot (good or bad) to follow it. This movie moves like a clunky engine desperately needing some transmission fluid, and no amount of "social realism" forgives that, especially since this movie isn't. Overall, I was disappointed because had the actual production of this film been well done, the movie itself would have been very amazing. It is, indeed, memorable. It just suffers from bad grammar that garbles up its message. --PolarisDiB

The rise of the 'angry young man' in British cinema took an interesting twist in this gritty drama. Set initially in Nottingham, Smith and his mate played by a very young James Bolam are nicked for petty theft. Sent to a borstal his athletic prowess is seized on by the Head to be mobilised in the name of the institution. Michael Redgrave's superb creation combines the stiff Britishness with a surpressed and unfulfillable desire to reform and change. This opposition creates a man at odds with his position. On the one hands he trusts and on the other he is petty and weak. Courtney's runner defines the struggle of the period between the decaying class system and the consumer led rise of the working class. His desire to run his own race, to lose because he won't win to justify Redgrave's ideology portrays that essentially English state of mind that it is better to fail than to succeed as long as you have chosen to fail. A wonderful film.

After getting caught robbing a bakery, Colin Smith is sent to Ruxton Towers reformatory as punishment. Working out the system quite quickly, Colin sets out to divert attention from himself, ingratiate himself with the Governor and thus have a better chance of getting an easy ride and being let out early. His background in distance running (and speed at running from the scene of his crimes) bring him to the fore in the athletics competitions and it is not long before Colin is allowed out alone to train. During his long runs Colin has time to think back over his life outside, the fun, the family upbringing and the crimes that landed him inside. Although it has dated and is not as relevant anymore, this is still an interesting film that looks at the trap of being born into a working class family with limited opportunities and a bleak future ahead of you. The film uses flashbacks well to judge the system without being too obvious – the family background, the small hopes and dreams, the lack of inspiration etc; they all lead Colin into a petty life of crime. The structure works well to keep both threads (in and out) moving ahead well and it is interesting enough. The film also (in my opinion) is pretty fair by showing how those at the bottom of the ladder also must blame themselves for failing to take the chances offered to them – as shown by Colin's possible athletics career. This is a fair comment and helps to prevent this becoming just a rant in defence of the downtrodden classes. Watching it today sees it lose a lot of its relevance because the class distinction is less evident now that it was then and Colin would be a lot less likable if we were a modern day Chav with a "f*** you" attitude and no education – at least here we are able to feel for him a bit. As it is Courtenay (now Sir Courtenay) plays it very well – Colin is a human, someone we like but also someone trapped in a situation that is partly his own making. Redgrave plays the upperclass Governor very well and we at once are for him and against him, feeling sorry for his failing attempts to help. Support is pretty realistic (well – I assume anyway) for the period and Bolam is a surprise find in a young role. Overall this is still a good film but, as with anything set in a very realistic setting, it is not as relevant today as it was then. It is still interesting though and has things to say that still generally apply today even if class is less of an issue (now money has less to do with class than it did then). The acting is good, the direction is very down to earth and realistic and the film is still well worth seeing (with that very memorable conclusion to the race being a very memorable moment).