Though not quite an example of the British ''Free Cinema'' movement,Michael Grigsby's 'TOMORROW'S Saturday' is certainly heavily influenced by this important,influential style of filmmaking which changed the cultural outlook of British cinema for the better.
Made in the most modest of circumstances,on Bolex 16mm cameras over a period of two years in the producer's spare time,'TOMORROW'S Saturday' has a wistful,poetic quality despite the rugged aspects of late 1950's working class life in the Lancashire towns of Blackburn and Preston, beautifully filmed in locations such as noisy cotton mills,back to back terraces,cobblestone streets,football grounds and public houses.The impressionistic sound track matches perfectly with the visuals,of a lamented time and culture that has long since passed.
The said filmmakers were fed up at the time of a middle class dominated film landscape in Britain,and it was thanks to their innovative efforts that led to the British New Wave with such films as 'Saturday NIGHT AND Sunday MORNING' (some of the scenes depicted recall that most seminal and ground breaking of films which starred Albert Finney) and 'A TASTE OF HONEY' and also the TV serial 'CORONATION STREET',which all started in the early 60's which at long last dramatised working class life in Britain in an honest,realistic manner.'TOMORROW'S Saturday' has no voice over but is all the better for it,and although it may appear dated and clichéd now still comes over as fresh,fascinating and gloriously poetic of a time when working class communities thrived economically and socially before the sad demise and breaking up of the textile industry,which inevitably led to fragmented families and housing that fell victim to demolition.'TOMORROW'S Saturday' is a gem of a short documentary that deserves to be better known.
Made in the most modest of circumstances,on Bolex 16mm cameras over a period of two years in the producer's spare time,'TOMORROW'S Saturday' has a wistful,poetic quality despite the rugged aspects of late 1950's working class life in the Lancashire towns of Blackburn and Preston, beautifully filmed in locations such as noisy cotton mills,back to back terraces,cobblestone streets,football grounds and public houses.The impressionistic sound track matches perfectly with the visuals,of a lamented time and culture that has long since passed.
The said filmmakers were fed up at the time of a middle class dominated film landscape in Britain,and it was thanks to their innovative efforts that led to the British New Wave with such films as 'Saturday NIGHT AND Sunday MORNING' (some of the scenes depicted recall that most seminal and ground breaking of films which starred Albert Finney) and 'A TASTE OF HONEY' and also the TV serial 'CORONATION STREET',which all started in the early 60's which at long last dramatised working class life in Britain in an honest,realistic manner.'TOMORROW'S Saturday' has no voice over but is all the better for it,and although it may appear dated and clichéd now still comes over as fresh,fascinating and gloriously poetic of a time when working class communities thrived economically and socially before the sad demise and breaking up of the textile industry,which inevitably led to fragmented families and housing that fell victim to demolition.'TOMORROW'S Saturday' is a gem of a short documentary that deserves to be better known.
