The bfi 100: 51-60
51. Tom Jones (1963
Directed by Tony Richardson
Cast: Albert Finney, Susannah York, Hugh Griffith, Edith Evans, Joan Greenwood, Diane Cilento, George Devine, Joyce Redman, David Warner, Wilfrid Lawson, Freda Jackson, Rachel Kempson, Lynne Redgrave
Joyous and well-received adaptation of Henry Fielding's tale of a young man's bawdy adventures in 18th-century England. Albert Finney romps through proceedings as the high-spirited Tom who eventually marries the squire's daughter, while Lynne Redgrave makes her film debut way down the cast. Richardson's completely disarming direction won an Oscar®; it also won for Best Picture, John Osborne's screenplay and composer John Addison.
52. This Sporting Life (1963
Directed by Lindsay Anderson
Cast: Richard Harris, Rachel Roberts, Alan Badel, William Hartnell, Colin Blakely, Vanda Godsell, Arthur Lowe
A brutal film, starring Irish-born Richard Harris as a miner who becomes an aggressive rugby player, and Welsh-born Rachel Roberts who impresses (and won a BAFTA award) as the woman suffering from his inarticulate passions. Hailed at the time as one of the best films made in England, Anderson's rugby sequences are uncompromising and explicit (similar to the boxing in Scorsese's Raging Bull). The script was by David Storey, based on his own novel.
53. My Left Foot (1989
Directed by Jim Sheridan
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Ray McAnally, Brenda Fricker, Ruth McCabe, Fiona Shaw, Eanna MacLiam, Alison Whelan, Declan Croghan, Hugh O'Conor, Cyril Cusack
This uplifting film features a tour-de-force performance by Daniel Day-Lewis as the strident Irish artist-writer Christy Brown, born with cerebral palsy. Director Sheridan in his debut film (he co-wrote alongside Shane Connaughton) handles the mixture of emotion, humour and drama perfectly, and extracts remarkable performances all round, especially from Hugh O'Connor as the young Christy. Day-Lewis and Brenda Fricker, who plays Christy's mother, both won Oscars®.
54. Brazil (1985
Directed by Terry Gilliam
Cast: Jonathan Pryce, Robert DeNiro, Michael Palin, Kim Greist, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Ian Richardson, Peter Vaughan, Bob Hoskins
Terry Gilliam's dazzling examination of a 1984-like future society swirls between the bleak reality of the life of hapless clerk Sam Lowry (the excellent Pryce) and his confused dreams. The screenplay, by Gilliam, Tom Stoppard and Charles McKeown, allows for wildly imaginative production design and some rich, dark comedy. Robert DeNiro crops up as a grinning freedom fighter, and Katherine Helmond (from TV's Soap) is Sam's bizarre mother. The film was initially cut by some 11 minutes for its US release and became the subject of a campaign to have the full version screened.
55. The English Patient (1996
Directed by Anthony Minghella
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Naveen Andrews, Colin Firth, Julian Wadham, Jurgen Prochnow
An epic, moving adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's acclaimed novel which beautifully recounted tragic relationships against the backdrop of a confused ending to World War II. Director Minghella, who wrote the screenplay with Ondaatje, crafted a film that allows for glorious acting against stunning vistas (the desert has not burned the screen like this since Lean's Lawrence of Arabia), and proved that epic cinema still had a place in the 1990s. Excellent, romantic performances from Fiennes and Scott-Thomas, while Juliette Binoche, who won one of the film's nine Oscars®, created the perfect balance to their story.
56. A Taste of Honey (1961
Directed by Tony Richardson
Cast: Rita Tushingham, Dora Bryan, Murray Melvin, Robert Stephens, Paul Danquah
Classic, offbeat British drama from the early 1960s, based on Shelagh Delaney's London and Broadway stage success. An ordinary teenager in Salford (Rita Tushingham) has an affair with a black sailor, becomes pregnant and ends up being cared for by her homosexual friend (played by Murray Melvin). A poignant film, with fine central performances and a subtle script by Delaney and director Richardson. It scooped four BAFTA awards, including Best British Picture and one for Dora Bryan, who made Tushingham's mother a memorable character.
57. The Go-Between (1970
Directed by Joseph Losey
Cast: Alan Bates, Julie Christie, Michael Redgrave, Dominic Guard, Michael Gough, Margaret Leighton, Edward Fox
An intriguing, moody picture, made by the combined talents of Joseph Losey (directing) and Harold Pinter (screenplay). Based on the story by L.P. Hartley, it tells of a 12 year-old boy, Leo, who carries love letters between farmer Ted Burgess (Bates) and beautiful aristocrat Marian Maudsley (Christie). A richly textured Edwardian England is re-created and elegantly filmed; the film is full of subtle nuances, as well as fine performances.
58. The Man in the White Suit (1951
Directed by Alexander Mackendrick
Cast: Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Cecil Parker, Vida Hope, Ernest Thesiger, Michael Gough, Howard Marion Crawford, Miles Malleson, George Benson, Edie Martin
Brilliant comedy from the talented Alexander Mackendrick (directing and co-writing), with Alec Guinness at his best as the innocent, idealistic inventor who devises a revolutionary piece of cloth that will always stay clean and last forever. This, of course, upsets the textile factory owners and workers, who suddenly see no further use for their businesses. Guinness's mild-mannered performance is finely balanced by the terrific Joan Greenwood who schemes with gentle charm. The gurgling noises from Guinness's experiments were later set to music and released as 'The White Suit Samba'!
59. The Ipcress File (1965
Directed by Sidney J. Furie
Cast: Michael Caine, Nigel Green, Guy Doleman, Sue Lloyd, Gordon Jackson
First of the Harry Palmer spy series, produced by Harry Saltzman and based on Len Deighton's thrillers. Michael Caine's myopic crook-turned-agent offered the perfect antidote to the suave elegance of Bond and the film was a big success. Here, Palmer becomes involved in a number of nasty killings linked to mind control torture as he tracks a scientist who disappeared on a train. Two sequels followed (Guy Hamilton's Funeral in Berlin and Ken Russell's Billion Dollar Brain), and the Palmer character has been revived in the 1990s, with Caine again taking the role.
60. Blow Up (1966
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
Cast: David Hemmings, Sarah Miles, Vanessa Redgrave, Verushka, Jane Birkin, Peter Bowles
Classic 1960s cinema from Italian director Antonioni, starring David Hemmings as a hip fashion photographer who discovers that he has accidentally photographed a murder in a park. The murder plot is the link to take viewers through 'swinging' London, dabbling with hash, sex and fashion in equal measures. A fascinating look at a currently cool age, with impressive performances from the young Redgrave, Birkin and Hemmings himself. Adapted by Antonioni and Tonino Guerra from Julio Cortazar's short story, with English dialogue by Edward Bond.
