Review of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) by Aidan H — 12 Nov 2007

If there's one film that takes my breath away as soon as it starts, its SNSM. Taut, concise and the last word in muscular rebellion, this movie has me in the palm of its sweaty mitt throughout. Finney is masterful as the eponymous working class hero whose only desire is to finish work, get pissed and shag some poor fuckers' missus.

Rowdy and human, Reisz really captures the working class culture of the time and gives us one of the great male characters of cinema history. So many scenes to choose from: Arthur shooting the gossipy old bag with his air rifle; getting his head kicked in by squaddies and romancing his dim-bulb girlfriend played by the mouth-watering Shirley Anne Field.

In my top five and without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best British films of all time. Amazing.