121 Billy Liar

[Martha]

Billy Liar

[img]http://criterion_production.s3.amazonaws.com/release_images/716/121_box_348x490_w128.jpg[/img]

Tom Courtenay gives a flawlessly nuanced performance as Billy Fisher, the underachieving undertaker’s assistant whose constant daydreams and truth-deficient stories earn him the nickname “Billy Liar.” Julie Christie is the handbag-swinging charmer whose free spirit just might inspire Billy to finally move out of his parents’ house. Deftly veering from gritty realism to flamboyant fantasy, Billy Liar is a dazzling and uproarious classic.

Special Features

-New widescreen digital transfer, enhanced for 16×9 televisions
-Audio commentary featuring director John Schlesinger and actors Tom Courtenay and Julie Christie
-Excerpts from “Northern Lights,” an episode of the BBC series Hollywood U.K.: British Cinema in the Sixties, hosted by Richard Lester
-Original theatrical trailer
-English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
-Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

Criterionforum.org user rating averages

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[Matt]

Bosley Crowther's original review from the New York Times:

OF course you remember Walter Mitty, James Thurber's timid little man who escaped from his humdrum existence by imagining himself involved in glorious fantasies. Well, the hero of "Billy Liar," which came to the Coronet yesterday, is his British cousin—a wee less timid, but the same breed of cat.

Like Walter, he is a big nobody and lives in a middle-class home in a dismal Midlands city. Unlike Walter, he was a minor clerical job in a dreary funeral parlor and he dates girls whose horizons are limited mainly to wedding rings and four-room flats.

The only thing that saves him from madness—and saves this picture from being just one more of those angry-young-man British dramas—is his fertile ability to dream, to weave fantasies of himself as various heroes accomplishing bold and glamorous deeds.

He even has the ability to turn on the make-believe in the face of his friends and pompous superiors and stagger them with his mimicry. He is a card. He is also a bit of a sham.

As much as John Schlesinger, the director, gives him all the best of it in this film, which is based on a play and a novel that were both big London hits, and as much as the young star. Tom Courtenay, plays him appealingly, he is hollow, not only as a hero but as a dramatic character.

So long as he is badgering his parents, playing impudent practical jokes on his stiff-backed and humorless superiors, bouncing frantically back and forth between two girls to whom he is trying to keep attached as his fiancées with one cheap engagement ring, he's a gay and amusing fellow, and Mr. Schlesinger succeeds in giving the film a mood of spontaneity and madness that is quite agreeable.

But when the fable slips into an issue of some considerable seriousness — at least, so far as the future of the hero is concerned—and it is solved, or allowed to crumble, in a cheerless denouement, I find it a dramatic contrivance that is theatrical and false. I do not think Mr. Courtney's hero—at least, the funny fellow we have seen being so-brisk and enterprising in the better part of the film — would turn out to be such a chicken, such a dismal stereotype. It seems that the authors and Mr. Schlesinger want to make him more pathetic than he is.

However, he's fun through most of the picture, even when you can't understand what he says—and, believe me, there are lots of times in this picture when English subtitles would be a help. The Midlands accent is that muddy! Helen Fraser and Gwendolyn Watts are pert and harsh as the chippies he courts with breathless ardor, and an actor named Wilfred Pickles — no fooling! — is appropriately sour as his old man.

"Billy Liar" is least convincing and least appealing when it attempts to expose a poignant truth.

[colinr0380]

But when the fable slips into an issue of some considerable seriousness — at least, so far as the future of the hero is concerned—and it is solved, or allowed to crumble, in a cheerless denouement, I find it a dramatic contrivance that is theatrical and false. I do not think Mr. Courtney's hero—at least, the funny fellow we have seen being so-brisk and enterprising in the better part of the film — would turn out to be such a chicken, such a dismal stereotype. It seems that the authors and Mr. Schlesinger want to make him more pathetic than he is.

I don't think the character can be thought of as pathetic. His escapes into fantasy and acting the fool are attempts at making light of his circumstances and of trying to endear himself to others as well as making life bearable for himself.

The situation with the calendars feels like something that has spiralled out of control and an excuse for others to attack him for living in fantasy rather than wondering what occured that caused Billy to hide things from them rather than feeling able to come to them with his problems. It brings up the issue (like in The Curse of the Cat People!) that Billy's fantasy world has become so powerful because he has no one who will listen to him in his family. The calendar situation feels like something that in a comedy film would be the climax of a hilarious set of misunderstandings where the audience is given maximum comedy but little aftermath to the situation. In this film however we get the initial fun of seeing all the calendars and the way Billy tries to get rid of them, but unfortunately no one else seems to realise that they are in a comedy film and keep bringing the issue up and threatening Billy, turning laughter into shock.

This plays into the way that he is beaten down for his fantasies by people around him, especially his parents, as if they can tell that he is clinging on to this fantasy world and feel the need to tear it away from him, almost as if they can. This is perhaps the final tragedy of the film as his turning away from Julie Christie at the station shows not just his fear of leaving his depressing and dead-end life, but also that he has been beaten down by all those around him into feeling that the town is all he has in life. I have the feeling at the end of the film that this is the end of his fantasy world and any dreams of anything better or more to aim for. Probably he will still play the fool, but it will be an act tinged with desperation rather than idealism - a safe form of foolishness that can make parents, bosses and co-workers feel better about themselves rather than self-concious. Rather than being thought of as pathetic though criticism should be directed at the other characters who have beaten him down.

[Gordon]

Sod Bosley Crowther, this is a brilliant film. It's one of the best presentations of the 'battles of the generations' of British Cinema. Billy has been cogged by society, with his father insisting that he be "grateful" for it all. If I am anything to go by, most working class people in Britain escape into fantasy throughout the day and the deeper one's imagination is, then the more of a burden it can be, whilst inspecting the soup tins, ball-bearing machine, death certificates or whatnot.

I have not read the book, but I would imagine that the fantasy sequences work better in the film. Fantasy sequences are one of the reasons that Cinema was invented, I feel and this film is exemplary proof of that. Courtney is awesome throughout and seems to have had a ball making the film. He was an excellent choice for the role, even if Albert was the first choice; his boyish innocence shines through, but he also nails the more serious moments, especially the final confrontation with his old man.

The great Denys Coop's cinematography is gorgeous throughout. Coop had already worked with Schlesinger on A Kind of Loving the year before, creating wonderfully stark lighting and had since worked with Lindsay Anderson on another stark drama, This Sporting Life, but also on Basil Dearden's underrated sci-fi film, The Mind Benders. Coop, like most British cinematographers started out as a camera operator and he was considered one of the very best ops in the business. The visual flair of Carol Reed's The Fallen Idol and The Third Man is, in part, down to Coop - not disrespect to Robert Krasker and Georges Périnal, of course! He also operated on Olivier's Richard III, Preminger's visually daring Bonjour tristesse, The Entertainer; Sons and Lovers; Lolita and Ryan's Daughter. Billy Liar is among his best work, especially the nighttime scene in the park; extraordinary stuff, but Douglas Slocombe deservingly won the BAFTA for The Servant.

Schlesinger's direction is, just as it was with A Kind of Loving, solid, yet expressive. The great Leonard Rossiter plays the officious Shadrack perfectly - he always excelled in such roles - but all the actors give splendid performances; the legendary Finlay Currie (Councellor Duxbury) was 74 and in poor health when he made this film, but he's wonderfully natural as the central figure of the 'old school' in the film.

Much like, The Browning Version, the film is about a man's lack of will power preventing him from following his desired path. Crocker-Harris isn't of the daydreaming stock, though and has been trapped in the grinder for years, whereas Billy Fisher - like myself - is still young and has yet to be zombified by his trappings. But when his carpe diem moment comes, he bottles it. He seems to have a pang of consciousness for his family, althouugh the ending isn't really pessimistic, as in A Kind of Loving or sad, as in Midnight Cowboy, but is closer to Saturday Night, Sunday Morning - both Billy and Arthur Seaton - and The Crock, perhaps - seem to have a dignified defiance at the end, leaving the viewer open for pessimistic or optimistic speculations. Liz probably had a ball with the hipsters in London in the Sixties and who knows, maybe Billy eventually joined her. Or maybe he stayed in Bradford, kept fantasizing and was more or less happy. And what's wrong with that?

[HistoryProf]

This has been on my wishlist forever...never picked up as an older upper tier release - but now the OOP announcement requires me to make hasty decisions on a few titles so would appreciate feedback on this one. It would seem initially anyway that it would be among the likelier titles for SC to re-release, maybe even on blu. Only 2 extras of note on this one...thoughts on them relative to future possibilities? I love the film, just need to gauge what I should prioritize since I can't buy them all.

[domino harvey]

I didn't know it was OOP but get it

[Matt]

Only 2 extras of note on this one

But the Schlesinger/Courtenay/Christie commentary is not to be sniffed at. It's not like you're going to get another one of those anytime soon.

[HistoryProf]

I didn't know it was OOP but get it

It is part of round 2 of those sons of bitches at Studio Canal taking back rights to a dozen or so more films.

and good enough...ordered.

[dad1153]

Turner Classic Movies will be showing "Billy Liar" this Monday, August 2nd, at 8PM ET/5PM PT in the States. If you can't get the now-OOP Criterion disc seeing (taping?) this on TV might be the next best thing. Or, if you're on the fence about hunting down an OOP copy, sample the goods first.

[SamLowry]

...coming to Blu Ray (from Studio Canal apparently), along with Darling & A Kind of Loving:
John Schlesinger Box

[jindianajonz]

I don't speak french, but I wouldn't call that a box- it says "Nombre de disques : 1 "

[RossyG]

Rule number one of Film Club: never take the specs on Amazon seriously.

Rule number two of Film Club: never take the specs on Amazon seriously.

[Lowry_Sam]

I don't speak french, but I wouldn't call that a box- it says "Nombre de disques : 1 "

at 40 Euros, it is unlikely to be 1 disc, Amazon often automatically states 1 disc on new releases until the full details are available.

[Drucker]

From above it looks like we've been burned before, but there seems to be a UK Blu Ray coming out on May 6th.

[triodelover]

From above it looks like we've been burned before, but there seems to be a UK Blu Ray coming out on May 6th.

That's great. I've always had a thing for Julia Christie.

[colinr0380]

Watching the film again recently I was struck by the way that everything of worth (or perhaps more correctly everything of supposed worth) in the film comes from the somewhere else. I was particularly struck by the Housewives' Choice radio programme that plays over the opening titles for this. It unifies and turns every street into a non-specific 'suburban' one and offers a kind of way for (presumably dreary and interchangeable) housewives in various parts of the country to communicate with each other through their record requests. However it is all mediated (in a very BBC way) through the Received Pronunciation of the presenter of the show, presumably standing in for the army of backroom staff who vet the calls and approve them going on the air.

The calendars are also bought in as a bulk order, starting as a dream but ending as a nightmare!

Similarly the big supermarket that is being opened in the middle of town is parachuted in as an offshoot of a large corporation with its head office elsewhere in the country (if in the country at all), and with the full endorsement of the local mayor and councillors. It offers a taste of conveniences otherwise unavailable from local grocery stores but layers its own brand of homogenous blandness across everything. You are given a range of products previously far beyond your dreams but that 'choice' is somewhat illusory, pre-packaged and not quite as fresh as the best local produce.

You can tell where I am going with this! Julie Christie's character is kind of the supreme embodiment of this, the limited edition thrilling and spicy offering that you'd better not get used to as she will soon be whisked back to the city where she belongs (yet like the Swinging London of the 60s maybe it is all an enticing posture rather than something with lasting consequences), set against Helen Fraser's staple diet of unflashy, prescribed path to marriage children, retirement and the grave. The only thing that is kept provincial is the family and the local businesses (with the local business Billy works for perhaps being a little too obviously characterised into a funeral parlor - the bought in calendars there to number his days!)

Paradoxically this outside world is creating the impossible dreams and aspirations (as in Billy, but he is just the most extreme example of it) but also is keeping the communities going in some senses too with the ability to pick up modern devices, have fresh goods all year round and feel connected.

I think the film is conflicted between the two poles of exciting possibility of a big city life and the unfulfilled but stable life. Everything is better outside but in some ways the most tried and tested (proved safe) aspects of modern life will eventually get to you, whether you like it or not. (Even some of the less safe infiltrations!)

Plus of course unlike the 60s now every home has its own broadcasting studio with internet connections, webcams and microphones. That is why I think that what could be seen as the final 'tragedy' of the film is in a way just one which is rooted into its particular period of the 60s. Personally speaking, the time was that if I ever wanted to talk to people about films I would have to be presumptuous enough to think that I deserved a place in the broadcast media, travel to a city, fight over a job with other hopefuls (with that fight eventually resulting in a bland, broadly audience pleasing end result) and then get to put across a corporate line. Now, I can kind of broadcast my ramblings internationally almost by total accident (which is arguably a good or a bad thing, and I'm sure Matt and the other moderators trying to control things are despairing at my starry-eyed naiveté right now!) to anyone who cares to listen!

In a way I can remain a provincial with all the elements of home, family, supermarkets, nondescript employment etc without having to give that up for just a chance to be part of a wider community or even movement (I think that is kind of why the media is so nervous about the supposedly 'uncontrollable' nature of the internet, where a message might not easily hew to a particular line; or why we are seeing the media consolidating together for warmth in Ballardian business parks such as Media City in Salford), and is kind of why Billy's ending, if it were remade today, would be in no way as bleak as it feels set in the early 60s.

At the very least he has the internet message boards to write his Ambrosia fan fiction on for a wider audience and perhaps possibly become the next J.K. Rowling!