N S Ford

Tag: Alan Sillitoe

  • Film of the book: ‘The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner’ (1962)

    This is a remarkable black and white film, based on Alan Sillitoe’s short story which was part of a collection published in 1959. The author himself wrote the screenplay, adding extra scenes to extend the story. Directed by Tony Richardson, with daring cinematography by Walter Lassall and funky music by John Addison, this film has an experimental and realistic feel which matches the original text. The star performer is Tom Courtenay, who plays the young offender Smith (given a first name, Colin, for the film). Apparently the film was shot entirely on location, which adds to the realism.

    You can read about the story here in my recent review of the book. I think the film captured the story perfectly, although I wasn’t keen on the romance storyline which padded it out: Colin and and his friend Mike steal a car, pick up two respectable but trusting girls, start relationships with them and then go to Skegness for a holiday, without any consequences. This seemed like a departure from the social realism of the story but I suppose that it gives the characters (and the viewers) space to think and prolongs the tension of waiting for something to happen.

    The big centrepiece of the film (apart from the cross-country race of course) is a riot in the canteen, in which the borstal boys start thumping the tables, with the sound echoing and the camera panning faster and faster until violence breaks out. In my copy of the book, there’s an article about adapting the book for the screen, which says that the film used actual inmates of a real borstal as extras – no wonder they act out the riot scene with such enthusiasm…

    In case you didn’t get that the film is about the working class versus the elite, there are various bits of symbolism to give you a clue. Smith actually burns the money which his mum gave him, part of the insurance for his dad’s death – the money is of course from the employer. I would love to know if a real note was set on fire… any film buffs out there know?!

    The last scene of the film is a workshop in which the boys are dismantling old WW2 gas masks. The governor pays a visit, is mean to Smith and also seems a little panicked after touching the gas masks (either it’s a comment on the expendability of the working classes – gas masks often contained asbestos, which in the 60s became known as a hazard to health – or it’s a representation of the ruling classes’ distaste for manual labour). The last shot is of Smith holding a stripped gas mask, which I would suggest is a metaphor for the breaking down of barriers between the classes.

  • Review of ‘The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner’ by Alan Sillitoe

    This is a prizewinning collection of short stories which examine the experiences of working class men in the 1930s – 50s. Most of them are set in the city of Nottingham (where the author is from). I wouldn’t say I enjoyed this book, as the stories are all grim and have a very male focus, plus there is a tendency for very long paragraphs. However, I appreciate the impact of this writing. It must have seemed fresh and daring at the time. Moreover, the overriding theme of conflict – ‘us against them’ – workers against bosses, ordinary people against the elite, sons against fathers, rival football teams – is a timeless one. The characters’ language may be outdated but the themes are not.

    The title story, The ‘Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner’, is about a young offender named Smith, who is sent to borstal (a detention centre). The governor has high hopes for Smith in a cross-country running contest. Although Smith likes to run and finds freedom in it, he’s conflicted because winning the race would mean giving in to his supposed superiors. Most of the story is narrated in the form of flashbacks while he’s running, where we find out what his life was like before borstal and how he ended up there. It’s a remarkably told story which was turned into an equally good film.

    The other stories in this collection are: ‘Uncle Ernest’, ‘Mr Raynor the School-teacher’, ‘The Fishing-boat Picture’, ‘Noah’s Ark’, ‘On Saturday Afternoon’, ‘The Match’, ‘The Disgrace of Jim Scarfedale’ and ‘The Decline and Fall of Frankie Buller’. I think the best of these are ‘The Fishing-boat Picture’, which is about an estranged married couple, and ‘Noah’s Ark’, which is set on a fairground ride.

    First published in 1959 by W H Allen; this edition was published by HarperCollins in 2007 with extra material including an interview.