Sunday Bloody Sunday

Introduction

John Schlesinger was somewhere near his peak when he made Sunday Bloody Sunday; in between Billy Liar (1963) and Marathon Man (1976) and just after the Oscar-winning Midnight Cowboy (1969) and this was equally controversial, featuring one of the first same sex kisses in a movie.

The film revolves around a self-involved artist, Bob Elkin (Murray Head) and his plans to go to New York where he hopes to make it big with his latest creation. Elkin is seeing divorcee Alex (Glenda Jackson) and gay doctor Daniel (Peter Finch), with each knowing of the other's involvement with Elkin.

Alex takes over babysitting duties for the four children of a bourgeois couple, finding their upbringing leads to challenging behaviour, the young children passing a spliff around is one example of the laissez-faire attitude their parents have. Bob shares the burden but is quite content to leave Alex in the lurch and go off to see his boyfriend.

As far as the plot goes, that's about it as Penelope Gilliatt's script is more concerned with relationships and character than major plot points.

Video

A decent picture, and one that has good colours and black levels though a small amount of grain and other wear and tear is evident. It's a real shame that the picture isn't presented anamorphically for its UK premiere.

Audio

A clear Dolby Digital mono soundtrack with excellent sound design; the film is dominated by the sounds of rotary telephones ringing, dialling and the machinery whirring in a fashion like in The Conversation (1974). Being dialogue driven, the sound needs to be clear, and it is, which is just as well as there are no subtitles.

Extra Features

Just the theatrical trailer.

Conclusion

Sunday Bloody Sunday is not going to be for everyone - not much happens aside from the death of a dog - but it is a rewarding film if you invest yourself in the characters and their travails.

Glenda Jackson puts in a career-best performance and Peter Finch is superb - both were Oscar-nominated and Bafta winners, as was John Schlesinger for his direction. Showing a documentary-maker's eye, he allows the actors to work in freedom and use the set without his camerawork becoming in any way obtrusive and detract from the performances.

This is the film's first outing on DVD in the UK and, for this, Optimum should be thanked though it's a shame that their prolific output tends to result in discs with less or no extras when compared to previous releases and their aversion to subtitles is puzzling. Sunday Bloody Sunday is an excellent film though the DVD is disappointing.