Suzy Kendall is immense as the definitive class tourist in this adaptation of Nell Dunn\u2019s quasi-autobiographical novel about migrating from Chelsea to the savage and lawless environs of, ahem, Battersea, on the other side of the Thames. The film was mostly derided at the time for lacking the docudrama verve of an earlier Ken Loach TV version, but now it seems more vivid, more relevant and certainly more alive to the dilemma of Kendall\u2019s protagonist.<\/p>\n
She plays Polly Dean, a mansion-dwelling blue blood who packs in the Roller and the Chelsea butler for a chance, in the words of Jarvis Cocker, to live like common people, to see whatever common people see and, indeed, to sleep with common people like Pete, Dennis Waterman\u2019s junk shop assistant. \u201cPeople say what they feel here,\u201d she says of life among the cor blimey egg-and-chips crowd. \u201cThey\u2019re not repressed or hysterical!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Read more film reviews, guides about what to watch and interviews<\/a><\/p>\n Polly soon nabs a job in the local sweet-packing factory, where she befriends Maureen Lipman\u2019s fiery Sylvie, the kind of ciggie-smoking, headscarf-wearing blue-collar brawler who says to loose-lipped co-workers, \u201cI\u2019ll tear your bleedin\u2019 \u2019air off if you talk to me like that!\u201d Lipman is the film\u2019s secret weapon, her rendition of Manfred Mann\u2019s I Need Your Love during a raucous knees-up a grandstanding highlight. Seen through Polly\u2019s desperate eyes, though, the scene is also deeply moving.<\/p>\n Slickly directed by Peter Collinson, who also made The Italian Job, the film builds to a melodramatic climax that includes a botched abortion, a stolen Jaguar and a love match destroyed. Even though our sympathies are weighted towards Polly\u2019s feminist journey of self-actualisation, we fear \u2014 as Pete suspects and Jarvis Cocker knows \u2014 that when the conflict becomes too intense or the needs too demanding, she will simply \u201ccall her dad\u201d because he can stop it all.<\/p>\n The ending is poignant. The film is up there with Cathy Come Home, Darling, Alfie and This Sporting Life. Two-for-one cinema tickets at Everyman<\/p>\n Times+ members can enjoy two-for-one cinema tickets at Everyman each Wednesday. Visit thetimes.com\/timesplus<\/a> to find out more.<\/p>\n Which films have you enjoyed at the cinema recently? Let us know in the comments and follow @timesculture<\/a> to read the latest reviews<\/p>\n
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12, 114min
Blu-ray and buy\/rent <\/p>\n