5. Saturday Night And Sunday Morning
Arthur is an Angry Young Man who works as a machinist in a factory in Nottingham. Severely pissed off at what the Gods have given him in life, he is determined not to be tied down to a mediocre existence like his parents and all the people around him. He spends all of his money on boozing it up and having a good time. Arthur is having an affair with Brenda - the wife of a co-worker and he simultaneously begins a relationship with a younger woman named Doreen. Brenda gets pregnant and Arthur questions his Aunt Ada on how to abort the foetus. All attempts are unsuccessful, and when Brenda's hubby finds out about the baby, he summons up some man power and they kick Arthur's ass. Brenda's response is to carry on life as usual and look after her husband and kids. Arthur recovers and grows closer to Doreen with talk of marriage and moving in together. He goes back to work but knows he will never see Brenda or the baby again. One of the first social realism or 'kitchen sink' dramas, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning deals with working class life in a serious fashion. Sir Albert Finney totally owns the film as Arthur. He works in a mindless job and he is bitter and surly as hell. He drinks a lot of beer, becomes super obnoxious and falls down the stairs. The film is very fast paced when it comes to displaying the mournful existence of the working class masses. A great deal of changes were happening in Britain when Saturday Night and Sunday Morning was made. We can see this in the film's treatment of abortion as a topic just before it was made legal in Britain. Essential viewing for all fans of British cinema.