This Sporting Life

UPC: 715515027526

Studio: Criterion

Summary: Adapted by David Storey from his own novel, This Sporting Life stars Richard Harris as Frank, an athletic coal miner who aspires to the greener pastures of professional rugby. Soon establishing himself as one of the most brutal and arrogant players in the business, Frank begins to amass a fortune. He also falls in love with his landlady, Mrs. Hammond (Rachel Roberts), who initially resists his advances. When she finally gives in, their relationship hinges on sex alone, as Frank practically begs Mrs. Hammond to give of herself emotionally and she remains incapable. At the wedding ceremony for one of Frank's teammates, Mrs. Hammond unexpectedly lashes out at her swaggering lover. They split up, but Frank, who until now has equated happiness with wealth, is unable to get over the permanent loss. In the end, with nothing else left, all of Frank's self-worth becomes contingent on his rugby performances, though Frank and the other players are exploited to such a degree that this also proves disastrous. Widely regarded as one of the finest British feature films ever produced, the gritty and bleak This Sporting Life not only marked former documentary filmmaker Lindsay Anderson's first feature, but became one of the harbingers of the "Angry Young Man" school of filmmaking. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best British Actress – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Film - Any Source – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama – null Best Foreign Film – null Best Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Actor – Cannes Film Festival Best Picture – National Board of Review Film Presented – Toronto International Film Festival Best Foreign Film – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: Disc One: The Film:
New restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary featuring Paul Ryan, editor of Never Apologise: The Collected Writings of Lindsay Anderson, and David Storey, screenwriter and author of This Sporting Life
Theatrical trailer

Disc Two: The Supplements:
Lindsay Anderson: Lucky Man? (2004), a short documentary from BBC Scotland featuring interviews with many of the director's friends and collaborators
New video interview with Anderson's first producer and close friend Lois Sutcliffe Smith
Meet the Pioneers (1948), Anderson's first film, a documentary short about a mining engineering firm
Wakefield Express (1952), an early documentary by Anderson about the town that later served as the setting for This Sporting Life
Is That All There Is? (1993), Anderson's autobiographical final film

Plus: A booklet featuring a new essay by film scholar Neil Sinyard and an article by Anderson from 1963

This Sporting Life

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 01/22/2008

Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Vistavision

Audio: DD1 Dolby Digital Mono

Runtime: 134 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 2

Language(s) English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- This Sporting Life
1. Opening Credits [2:07]
2. "He's Just a Bit Dazed" [5:08]
3. The Dentist [3:24]
4. "A Thumping" [5:49]
5. "A Blinder" [8:17]
6. Tea With Mrs. Hammond [8:08]
7. "Property of the City" [8:11]
8. "She Gives Me Nothing" [4:39]
9. Weaver's Party [4:47]
10. Day in the Country [4:38]
11. Champion [4:33]
12. "Here in My Heart" [5:01]
13. Home Late [6:53]
14. Trade Secrets [:22]
15. Mrs. Weaver [4:41]
16. "Social Informalities" [5:50]
17. "Just for Christmas" [7:48]
18. A Night Out [5:49]
19. Wedding Day [8:46]
20. "Great Ape" [4:02]
21. Flophouse [8:15]
22. Hemorrhage [3:55]
23. Empty House [6:54]
1. Beginnings [2:07]
2. Sport and Art [5:08]
3. Free Cinema [3:24]
4. Characters [5:49]
5. Medieval Patronage [8:17]
6. Emotional Response [8:08]
7. Objects of Affection [8:11]
8. Rachel Roberts [4:39]
9. Brando [4:47]
10. Epic Quality [4:38]
11. A Lively Character [4:33]
12. Humphrey Jennings [5:01]
13. Relationships [6:53]
14. Castmates [:22]
15. Opportunism [4:41]
16. Class System [5:50]
17. Camera Work [7:48]
18. Lindsay's Direction [5:49]
19. Sadism and Masochism [8:46]
20. Lyrical [4:02]
21. Tragic End [8:15]
22. Influences [3:55]
23. Relationships [6:54]
Disc #2 -- This Sporting Life: The Supplements
1. If.... [5:10]
2. Respectful Rebel [3:00]
3. This Sporting Life [5:07]
4. Private Pain [6:27]
5. A Man Apart [9:14]
1. "The Prime Source" [5:51]
2. Past, Present, Parts [4:19]
3. Man and Machine [8:57]
4. Sutcliffe's Far-Reaching Vision [13:58]
1. Portraits of the People [5:38]
2. A History of the Express [4:34]
3. Traditions [10:43]
4. Inner Workings [11:22]
1. Every Day [12:43]
2. At Home: Visitors [10:23]
3. Cleaning Lady [2:54]
4. Secretarial [3:45]
5. About John Ford [3:07]
6. Writing About Films [3:10]
7. Project - Film [3:22]
8. At Your Age [1:51]
9. Project - Theatre [2:54]
10. My Brother [2:22]
11. Envoi [4:04]
12. Closing Credits [1:36]

Michael Costello

The breakthrough film for both director Lindsay Anderson and star Richard Harris, this grim portrait of a tormented rugby player features what is likely the actor's finest performance and remains one of the few to explore the dark side of an athlete's life. Frank Machin (Harris) emerges from the coal mines of Yorkshire to wage war in the rugby scrum on his way to wealth and stardom. But the brutality that has taken him to the top corrodes all of his relationships, especially that with married paramour Rachel Roberts. In many ways a precursor to Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980), Anderson records the relentless pounding of the scrum with a gritty immediacy, drawing a direct line from that bloody battle to the athletes' destructive off-the-field behavior. Along with Albert Finney, Harris was one of the first British actors to be influenced by the work of Marlon Brando and the techniques developed by the Actors Studio, and it would not be wrong to think of the character of Frank as a descendant of Stanley Kowalski. Like many of their contemporaries in the era of the Angry Young Man, both Anderson and Harris were also steeped in Italian neorealism, another strong influence on the film's style and tone. While Anderson would go on to produce more cerebral and explicit critiques of British society, none of his other films approach this one in terms of raw emotional power. ~ Michael Costello, Rovi

Cast and Crew: George Sewell  Actor 
Michael Logan  Actor 
Glenda Jackson  Actor 
Tom Clegg  Actor 
Lois Sutcliffe Smith  Actor 
Leonard Rossiter  Actor 
Murray Evans  Actor 
Harry Markham  Actor 
Lindsay Anderson  Director 
Karel Reisz  Producer 
Roberto Gerhard  Composer (Music Score) 
Richard Harris  Actor 
Rachel Roberts  Actor 
Alan Badel  Actor 
William Hartnell  Actor 
Colin Blakely  Actor 
Vanda Godsell  Actor 
Arthur Lowe  Actor 
Anne Cunningham  Actor 
Jack Watson  Actor 
Katherine Parr  Actor 
Peter Duguid  Actor 
Wallas Eaton  Actor 
Anthony Woodruff  Actor 
Frank Windsor  Actor 
John Gill  Actor 

Country: UK