Close Up

2 - 30 June 2018: Close-Up on Tony Richardson

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A Taste of Honey
Tony Richardson
1961 | 96 min | B/W | Digital

Jo struggles at home with her alcoholic mother and moves in with Geoff, a gay friend. Her life is thrown into turmoil when she discovers she is pregnant by a black sailor, who has since departed. The film's prosaic handling of themes of sexuality, abortion and interracial relationships is an outstanding example of the British New Wave. read more

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
Tony Richardson
1962 | 100 min | B/W | Digital

The much-loved Tom Courtenay made his name in this iconic film, the scalding story of teenager Colin Smith, who’s sent to a rural borstal for burglary but marked out by his talent as a cross-country runner. The film still stands as one of the fiercest moments in all British cinema – a dramatic tour de force with a dark message from Alan Sillitoe’s script about Britain and class, with a star-making performance at its heart. read more

Mademoiselle
Tony Richardson
1966 | 99 min | B/W | 35mm

Tony Richardson’s deliciously wicked film – with a script begun by Jean Genet but completed by the director when the playwright disappeared after only a week – stars Jeanne Moreau as the ostensibly prim schoolmistress of a small French village. Beneath Mademoiselle’s breast, however, bubbles a hotbed of repressed passion, which she releases in random acts of secret and rather symbolic violence around the village. read more