With a title like Sunday Bloody Sunday, you'd expect something explosive. Instead, this is a very quiet and internal character piece, but it is surprisingly effective in a lot of ways. Daniel Hirsh (Peter Finch) and Alex Greville (Glenda Jackson) are two Londoners connected by their individual relationships with the young Bob Elkin (Murray Head). Both of them want all of Bob, but he refuses to let himself settle down with one and thus they both must settle for a portion of what they really want.
This is the focal point of the plot, but the film strives for a much more universal theme about the world and what true happiness actually means. It seems to say that it doesn't exist, or at least that to hope for it is futile. These two characters are forced to ask themselves the question of whether having no joy is better than having some, but not all. It's a very innovative character study that is ahead of it's time not only in it's themes, but also in it's honest portrayal of these characters (along with how it played a gay relationship in the same way that it played a straight one). There are never any melodramatic shouting matches or violent rages; everything is played in a much more honest and passive fashion.
Director John Schlesinger creates a compelling and fully lived-in tone, making us feel as though we are just watching human beings rather than actors portraying characters. This no doubt comes with the help of the superb performances from Finch, Jackson and Head. Finch and Jackson in particular are forced to have the whole weight of the film's theme on their shoulders, but their internal work is brilliant. Within them there is such heartbreak and the way they display their utter loneliness on their worn faces is wrenching, but there's also a slight hope to them by the end. Finch has a monologue at the end that brought a tear to my eye with it's simultaneous sensations of remorse and hopefulness.
The film sparingly uses flashbacks, but when it does they do a nice job of getting us into the character's heads without relying too much on them. Instead, Schlesinger lays the film on Finch and Jackson and they deliver in spades. Two tremendous performances in an excellently drawn film. It leaves a lot up to the audience, letting things play out naturally and without exaggeration. It's also got Daniel Day-Lewis in his brief, uncredited, first screen appearance.
This is the focal point of the plot, but the film strives for a much more universal theme about the world and what true happiness actually means. It seems to say that it doesn't exist, or at least that to hope for it is futile. These two characters are forced to ask themselves the question of whether having no joy is better than having some, but not all. It's a very innovative character study that is ahead of it's time not only in it's themes, but also in it's honest portrayal of these characters (along with how it played a gay relationship in the same way that it played a straight one). There are never any melodramatic shouting matches or violent rages; everything is played in a much more honest and passive fashion.
Director John Schlesinger creates a compelling and fully lived-in tone, making us feel as though we are just watching human beings rather than actors portraying characters. This no doubt comes with the help of the superb performances from Finch, Jackson and Head. Finch and Jackson in particular are forced to have the whole weight of the film's theme on their shoulders, but their internal work is brilliant. Within them there is such heartbreak and the way they display their utter loneliness on their worn faces is wrenching, but there's also a slight hope to them by the end. Finch has a monologue at the end that brought a tear to my eye with it's simultaneous sensations of remorse and hopefulness.
The film sparingly uses flashbacks, but when it does they do a nice job of getting us into the character's heads without relying too much on them. Instead, Schlesinger lays the film on Finch and Jackson and they deliver in spades. Two tremendous performances in an excellently drawn film. It leaves a lot up to the audience, letting things play out naturally and without exaggeration. It's also got Daniel Day-Lewis in his brief, uncredited, first screen appearance.