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Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

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Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

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Summary

Classic drama starring Albert Finney, Shirley Anne Field and Rachel Roberts. Devoted to the pursuit of pleasure, factory worker Arthur Seaton spends his weekends drinking, brawling and chasing women. But when he begins to fall for modest, old-fashioned Doreen Gretton, Arthur is forced to reassess his values.

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Review

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

David Parkinson

At a time when angry young men railed against the injustices of life, Arthur Seaton was the only "kitchen sink" hero to accept that, while life was nasty, brutish and short, you had to make the best of it. And there was no one better to convey that complex mix of cynicism, laddishness and resignation than Albert Finney. The fact that this was only his second film makes it an even more astonishing performance. Both he and Rachel Roberts won Bafta awards, while the film itself took the best British picture honour. Adapting his own novel, Alan Sillitoe draws on his own experiences of factory life, which are given a truly authentic ring by director Karel Reisz, who was making his feature debut after several pioneering Free Cinema documentaries. British films would never be the same again. For the first time, the working classes were treated with respect, not condescension. Finney's belligerence towards authority is as convincing as his touching tenderness towards the married woman (Roberts) he seduces, and, while he may not always live by his words - "What I want is a good time. The rest is all propaganda" - as he conforms to marriage with Shirley Anne Field, the film's affirmation that he can never really be beaten survives. This ground-breaker has lost none of its power.

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7.5/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameArthur SeatonAlbert FinneyDoreen GrettonShirley Anne FieldBrendaRachel Roberts (1)Aunt AdaHylda BakerBertNorman RossingtonJackBryan PringleRobboeRobert CawdronMrs BullEdna MorrisMrs SeatonElsie WagstaffMr SeatonFrank Pettitt

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Crew

rolenameDirectorKarel Reisz

Details

Theatrical distributor

BFI

Released on

2002-10-11

Languages

English

Available on

video, DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Black and white

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