Underplayed Gems
The whole movie catalogue

Films and series, searchable by what they are

← Back to the shop

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner poster
Directed by
Tony Richardson
Genre
drama film, sport film
Country
United Kingdom
Runtime
1h 44m
Rated
NR
Rating
7.2 of 10 from 170 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb

How it feels

A working-class teenager from Nottingham is sent to a borstal after robbing a bakery. He finds a measure of freedom and power through long-distance running, but his rebellious inner life clashes with the expectations of the institution's governor.

rebelliousdefiantbroodingintrospectivetensemelancholicgrittyrestrained

What happens

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a 1962 British coming-of-age film directed by Tony Richardson, one of the new young directors emerging from the English Stage Company at the Royal Court. The screenplay was written by Alan Sillitoe, based on his 1959 short story of the same title, and concerns a rebellious youth who has been sentenced to a borstal for burgling a bakery. He gains privileges in the institution through his prowess as a long-distance runner, but reveries of important events before his incarceration that he has during his solitary runs lead him to re-evaluate his status as the prize athlete of the Governor. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? Tell the Catbot what you feel like watching and it picks from the whole catalogue, or browse by genre, country and year.

Lists: Korean thrillers worth the evening · Anime films beyond Studio Ghibli · Slow films for a rainy night · Horror that unsettles instead of startling · Series you can finish in a weekend · Nordic crime worth the subtitles · Good films that end in under 90 minutes · Documentaries that play like thrillers

Loading movies…

What should I watch?