The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner

Synopsis

This film is an example of the kind of social-realist dramas - also known as kitchen-sink dramas - that found popularity in the late 1950s and 1960s. The genre often dealt with gritty issues affecting Britain at the time and this is no exception. The film follows a young, working-class man who has been sent to a borstal, where he is awarded certain privileges thanks to his talent for cross-country running. As he prepares for an important race against a local public school, he must decide whom he is really running for - himself or the ambitious borstal governor.