Look Back in Anger

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steve d One of Richard Burton's best performances and that is saying something. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Incredibly annoying and obnoxiously angry Richard Burton's character will drive you insane with his ridiculous over acting and rudeness And then it all falls into place Beautifully written and filmed there is a reason this film is revered as a classic film noir masterpiece, it's an absolute cracker and it's available for another 10 days on BBC iPlayer Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Burton's anger (is it real or is it all an act?) is hard to listen to if you've known a person like this character in real life. Burton is too real, too raw. He seems to draw upon an anger that exists within him, not something that comes from a script. But how can those of us living fifty years later in other countries judge this? This is not a fun, entertaining movie to watch. Burton is always just one step away from beating the hell out of Bloom. In real life, he would do just that. Go figure if you can. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member The first of the British "Kitchen Sink" Realism pictures (from director Tony Richardson) aims to take an unvarnished look at contemporary working class life. Richard Burton plays Jimmy Porter, an angry young man with a strong animosity toward the middle class bourgeoisie who is nevertheless married to a young woman from that class. We learn that he has a university education but he isn't using it - instead he is working at the local market selling sweets from a stall. Jimmy is hard to understand - he is nasty to everyone, particularly his wife Alison (Mary Ure) and her friend Helena (Claire Bloom). He is chummy with his friend Cliff (Gary Raymond) who lives with the couple and he adores his former landlady "Ma" Tanner (Dame Edith Evans) who is earthy and working class. But I can't understand the man and his resentments - he just comes across like a prick. Some have argued that Burton (at age 34) was too old for the part and perhaps he lacks the immaturity that is necessary to convince an audience that his generalised hostility is borne from youthful wilfulness and resistance rather than just dickishness. If he wants to fight "the man" and fight for the working class, he isn't going about it the right way. I guess we are to mean to see him as frustrated. But then the plot has him inexplicably have an affair with the once hated friend and then eventually return to his wife (but why she returns to him is hard to fathom). He's mixed up, I'm mixed up. (The original play may make more sense). If you are looking for kitchen sink films, I'd recommend Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), A Taste of Honey (1961), or The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962; also by Richardson), all better than this one (which nevertheless looks pretty good in moody B&W and has some nice jazz interludes). Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review s r An angry, sad drama. Good acting, but not inspirational. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member excellent drama as a musician living in near poverty with his middle class wife leads to a breakdown in their relationship and to him into an affair. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Look Back in Anger

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