MANIFIESTOS DEL FREE CINEMA

Minerva recoge tres de los manifiestos del movimiento

cinematogrfico Free Cinema, que expresaban las principales
caractersticas de su ideario flmico, y fueron firmados por
Lorenza Mazzeti, Lindsay Anderson, Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson,
John Fletcher y Walter Lassally.
I MANIFIESTO DEL FREE CINEMA, FEBRERO DE 1956
Estas pelculas no se rodaron a la vez, ni se hicieron con la idea de
proyectarlas juntas. Pero una vez reunidas, apreciamos que tienen
una actitud comn. Implcita en esta actitud hay una creencia en
la libertad, en la importancia de la gente y de la vida cotidiana.
Como cineastas, creemos
demasiado personal.

que

ninguna

pelcula

puede

ser

La imagen habla. El sonido la amplifica y comenta. El tamao es

irrelevante. La perfeccin no es un objetivo.
Actitud significa estilo. Estilo significa actitud.
LORENZA MAZZETTI
LINDSAY ANDERSON
KAREL REISZ
TONY RICHARDSON
MIRAD
A
GRAN
BRETAA:
FREE
III MANIFIESTO DEL FREE CINEMA, MAYO DE 1957

CINEMA!

Este programa no se presenta ante vosotros como un logro, sino

como una aspiracin. Os pedimos que no lo contemplis como
crticos, ni como una diversin, sino que lo veis en relacin
directa con un cine britnico obstinadamente clasista, que an
rechaza el estmulo de la vida contempornea, as como la
responsabilidad de ejercer la crtica; que todava se empea en
reflejar una cultura metropolitana del sur de Inglaterra que
excluye la rica diversidad de las tradiciones y personalidades que
constituyen Gran Bretaa en su conjunto.

Con una cmara de 16 milmetros, con recursos mnimos y sin

dinero para pagar a los tcnicos no se puede lograr demasiado en
trminos comerciales. Es imposible rodar un largometraje y las
posibilidades de experimentar se encuentran severamente
restringidas. Pero s es posible emplear los propios ojos y odos.
Es posible dar indicaciones. Es posible hacer poesa.
La potica de este programa est tejida con nuestros sentimientos
sobre Gran Bretaa, la nacin de la que todos formamos parte.
Desde luego, se trata de sentimientos encontrados. Hay cosas que
nos producen tristeza o ira; son las que debemos cambiar. Sin
embargo, los sentimientos de orgullo y amor son fundamentales, y
slo un cambio inspirado por estos sentimientos ser eficaz.
Tenemos el Estado de Bienestar y las vicisitudes domsticas de
los Huggetts1 Deprimente, no? Algo as escriba un lector en
una carta al Observer, explicando por qu en este pas ya no es
posible un arte vital. Esta especie de pseudoliberalismo esnob y
desdeoso es el enemigo ms pernicioso y destructivo de la fe.
Nosotros nos posicionamos en su contra.
Por supuesto, trabajar en 16 mm no es suficiente aunque sin
duda en este campo hay espacio para ms iniciativas de jvenes
cineastas con algo que decir. Pensamos, pues, que el patrocinio
de Every Day Except Christmas por parte de la Ford tiene
particular importancia. Agradecemos a la Ford su poltica
emprendedora que hizo posible esta pelcula, as como su permiso
para proyectarla en este programa. Esperamos que otros
patrocinadores y otros cineastas sigan el mismo camino. En
primer lugar, mirar a Gran Bretaa con honestidad y afecto.
Saborear sus excentricidades; atacar sus injusticias; amar a su
gente. Utilizar el cine para expresar nuestras lealtades, nuestros
rechazos y nuestras aspiraciones. Este es nuestro compromiso.
COMIT POR EL FREE CINEMA
EL LTIMO FREE CINEMA
VI MANIFIESTO DEL FREE CINEMA, 1959
Han pasado ya tres aos desde que presentamos nuestro primer
programa de Free Cinema en el National Film Theatre, como un
desafo a la ortodoxia.

Caus un cierto revuelo. Nos llamaron esperanza blanca,

rebeldes, una empresa seria y muy prometedora El pblico
fue amplio y entusiasta. Y en gran medida, como resultado de esta
respuesta favorable, el asunto se convirti en un movimiento.
Ahora presentamos el sexto de estos programas. Es tambin el
ltimo. Hemos decidido que este movimiento, bajo este nombre,
ha servido ya a su propsito. As que este es el ltimo Free
Cinema.
Algunos se alegrarn, otros lo lamentarn. Nosotros sentimos una
mezcla de alegra y pesar. Hacer pelculas de esta manera, fuera
del sistema, supone una enorme presin que no es posible
soportar indefinidamente. No se trata slo de encontrar el dinero
necesario. Cada vez que se ha rodado una nueva pelcula, nos
hemos encontrado con que hay que librar la misma batalla por el
derecho a mostrar nuestro trabajo. Como dijo aquel loco que se
golpeaba la cabeza contra un muro de ladrillos, cuando paras es
tan agradable
Pero nuestra sensacin no es de derrota. Hemos tenido nuestras
victorias. Las pelculas del Free Cinema han ganado premios para
Gran Bretaa en Cannes (Together, 1956), Venecia (mencin
especial para Nice Time; Gran Premio para Every Day Except
Christmas en 1957) y Estados Unidos (O Dreamland, primer
premio en el Festival de Cine Experimental de Cleveland en 1957).
Los programas se han exhibido con xito en Pars y Nueva York;
en Italia, Finlandia, Dinamarca y Japn; en Mosc y en
Hampstead. Lo que en realidad comenz como un programa nico
de pelculas creci hasta convertirse en un movimiento que ya
cuenta con su propio lugar en los libros de historia del cine. Slo
nos queda agradecer al Fondo Experimental del British Film
Institute su ayuda en esta empresa; a Leon Clore de Graphic Films
por su apoyo constante y su asistencia; y a la Compaa Ford,
cuya esponsorizacin de Every Day Except Christmas y We Are
the Lambeth Boys se cuentan, en nuestra opinin, entre los actos
de patrocinio ms imaginativos e inteligentes de la historia del
cine documental britnico.
Al rodar estas pelculas y presentar estos programas hemos
intentado hacer una apuesta por un cine independiente y creativo
en un mundo en el que las presiones del conformismo y el
mercado son cada da ms poderosas. No vamos a abandonar esas
convicciones, ni a dejar de intentar llevarlas a la prctica.

Pero creemos que este movimiento, bajo esta bandera particular,

ya ha cumplido con su tarea. Un ao ms, y el propio Free Cinema
se habr convertido en otra etiqueta. Preferimos parar cuando
an estamos en plena forma.
Adems, la situacin est cambiando. Podra parecer que para
peor: cuntas salas de cine han cerrado en estos ltimos tres
aos, y cuntas ms estn a punto de convertirse en salas de
fiesta o en boleras? Pero nosotros no creemos que esto sea el fin
del cine; preferimos considerarlo la agona de un mal sistema. Y
cuanto antes muera, mejor. Ya se aprecian algunos signos de un
ambiente ms sano en las pelculas britnicas. Room at the Top es
un comienzo; y Look Back in Anger le sigue los pasos (y resulta
significativo que Tony Richardson, el joven director de Look Back
in Anger fuera uno de los colaboradores del primer programa de
Free Cinema, como codirector, junto con Karel Reisz, de Momma
Dont Allow).
Incluso el cine documental britnico est comenzando a
despertarse. Ya hay un grupo de voluntarios trabajando el
documental social dentro de la ACT, y una pelcula como March to
Aldermaston muestra un renacer del coraje, la iniciativa y la
vitalidad entre los tcnicos ms jvenes. Esta ltima proyeccin
de Free Cinema incluye el primer trabajo de dos nuevos
directores proscritos, Elizabeth Russell y Robert Vas, as como un
nutrido grupo de tcnicos implicados por primera vez en este tipo
de empresa Louis Wolfers, Allan Forbes, Michael Tuchner, Jack
Gold, Robert Allen. Y lo que nos parece an ms significativo,
supone el nacimiento de Unit Five Seven, el grupo de tcnicos de
la Granada Television de Manchester, cuya primera y excelente
produccin, Enginemen, estamos encantados de presentar en este
programa. Con doce miembros, la mayor parte de ellos de menos
de veinticinco aos, este grupo tiene ya media docena de
proyectos en marcha; el tono es independiente, potico, social y
humano. Creemos que Unit Five Seven crecer hasta convertirse
en algo importante, y los recibimos con sincero agradecimiento.
El Free Cinema ha muerto, larga vida al Free Cinema!
LINDSAY ANDERSON
JOHN FLETCHER
WALTER LASSALLY
KAREL REISZ

EL FREE CINEMA BUSCABA restablecer el contacto con la vida,

olvidando culalquiero tipo de esteticismo. Cederle la palabra al
ser humano.
LINDSAY ANDERSON
-

Naci en Bangalore India

Estudi en Oxford en donde su convirti en crtico de cine
Fue editor de la revista Sequence
Lindsay
Anderson
co-founded
the
influential
film
journal Sequence with Peter Ericsson in 1947 when they
were studying at Oxford. The first issue was financed by the
Oxford University Film Society and contained Andersons
Angles of Approach. Although the Oxford University Film
Society decided not to fund any further issues Anderson and
Ericsson decided to continue with Sequence, the next few
issues being financed by Anderson. As both Ericsson and
Anderson had left Oxford by this point and were based in
London they moved the writing and editing of the magazine
to Gavin Lamberts spare room and Anderson invited
Lambert to be a co-editor. Sequence continued as a film
quarterly until 1952.

Tony Richardson
Sandra Koponen

The Light Touch of Tony Richardson: Pushing the Boundaries

I have always gone on to new places and undertakings, each different from those already
familiar to me (oh where is that sense of unifying style? the critics would say [...]) Each
time Ive pushed off it has not been from the necessity or wish to get away but because the
newer world holds the promise of a positive and glowing thing which I wanted to
experience or create.
Tony Richardson (1)
I. Introduction: Defining Tony
It is understandable that so many critics have decried British director Tony Richardson for
either being overly concerned with style or for having no style of his own; Richardsons

uvre is difficult to encapsulate. Many critics fail to appreciate that Tony Richardsons
approach to filmmaking was his style. He believed in trying new or neglected material, and
was lauded for the integrity of his film adaptations of literary and dramatic works. Many of
his films are socially relevant and often deal with stories about an individuals struggle
against authority. He insisted on shooting on location, sometimes to the annoyance of cast
and crew. He allowed for spontaneity and encouraged actors to experiment. When filming,
it was his habit to have everyone on the set break for a glass of champagne at 11 am. He did
not believe in perfection and ended his memoir with something he heard Samuel Beckett
murmur to an actor: Go on failing. Go on. Only next time try to fail better.
Born in 1928 in Shipley, Yorkshire, Richardsons formative years were uneventful. The
only child of a lower middle-class pharmacist, he was a sickly child and learned to
manipulate the adults in a household that included both grandmothers. He read a great deal
and developed a lifelong love for animals, birds and flowers (as an adult he kept an aviary
of exotic birds). When twelve years old, he was shipped off to boarding school which he
loathed and began acting, directing and staging plays. Before going to Oxford in 1948 on
a scholarship, he started an amateur theatre company; once at Oxford, his life in theatre
took off and he quickly rose to fame.
Abounding with energy, Richardson was prolific. From the start of his directorial career in
the early 1950s until his death in 1991, he directed 36 stage plays, 20 films and 44
television dramas. While his contribution to the revitalization of British theatre and cinema
in the late 1950s and early 1960s is widely acknowledged, his subsequent film career is
generally overlooked. Film critic Peter Cowie wrote of Richardsons post-Tom Jones (1963)
cinematic endeavours, Richardson limped from one half-baked production to the
next. (2) Although some critics have given a more positive appraisal of his films (most
notably film scholars James M. Welsh and John C. Tibbetts, who believe Richardsons forte
was adapting literary and dramatic works for the screen, and Don Radovich, who has
general admiration for Richardson) (3), Tony Richardson remains relatively underappreciated.
I suggest that, until his death, Richardson continued to produce original, entertaining films,
many with critiques of the British class system and American capitalism. A chronological
survey of the films highlights how Richardson, especially in the 1960s, leapt from one
genre to another, sometimes creating one-of -a-kind films along the way. Contrary to the
assertion that Tony Richardson had no style of his own, I believe that Richardsons
versatility and ability to work in many styles was an asset rather than a flaw, and perhaps an
important key in his approach to filmmaking. He launched and revived many careers,
visualized each project with a fresh eye, and explored the possibilities of cinema as a
malleable form. As with any artist who experiments and is prolific, not all works will be
successful, but in the course of his career Richardson made at least eight films that are
worthy of any cinphiles attention.
First Films: Leading the Revolution 1955-1960
Richardsons early films are best understood against the backdrop of mainstream British
cinema of the 1950s, which was sthetically stagnant and whose subjects were limited to

classics or dramas about the affluent classes. Working-class people only appeared as side
characters or in comedic or denigrating roles. Richardson and others reacted against this.

Richardsons first foray into film was as a participant in the Free Cinema movement, the
precursor to the British New Wave. In the early 1950s, while writing film criticism for the
progressive film journal Sight and Sound, Richardson became associated with its editors,
Lindsay Anderson and Karel Reisz. They were all aware of the exciting cinematic
developments taking place outside of Britains borders. At the time, Richardson was
directing dramas for the BBC and had already made a name for himself as an imaginative
theatrical director while at Oxford University. Anderson and Reisz had made short
documentaries about working-class subjects and found the films revelatory; their films
were far more engaging than the stuffy British studio productions. In 1955, Richardson codirected Momma Dont Allow with Karel Reisz. Filmed with a handheld camera by
cinematographer Walter Lassally, it is a 22-minute black-and-white documentary with wild
sound that shows young adults at menial jobs, then later dancing with abandon at a jazz
club in London. Program notes stated that the directors sought to capture the freedom,
exuberance, and vitality of the dancers they did. Richardson, Reisz and Anderson signed
and published a Free Cinema manifesto that advocated films that valued the personal over
the commercial. Richardson was involved in organizing the first of six Free Cinema
screenings that showcased their films, including Momma Dont Allow.
The Free Cinema films paved the way for the British New Wave because they began
focusing on the struggles of working-class people, subjects that the British New Wave
directors would later dramatize. In addition, the Free Cinema films were shot on location
with minimal equipment and had a refreshing sthetic that was emulated by British New
Wave directors. Finally, the Free Cinema directors, Lindsey Anderson, Karel Reisz and
Tony Richardson, made many of the seminal British New Wave films. The primary
difference between the films of the Free Cinema and the New Wave is that the Free Cinema
films were short, low-budget documentaries, whereas the British New Wave films were
feature-length fictional films. The early British New Wave films were based on the writings
of a new generation of British writers who were critical of the class system and status quo,
and their stories had working-class protagonists. Mainstream critics dubbed these writers
the Angry Young Man movement, and the British New Wave films based on their writings,
kitchen sink dramas.

Richardson effectively launched the Angry Young Man movement in 1956 when he
directed the play Look Back in Anger, written by the then unknown playwright John
Osborne. Look Back in Anger is about the angst of the well-educated working-class Jimmy
Porter. He rages at his middle-class wife, Alison, in retaliation for her parents disdain for
his job as a candy-stall shopkeeper in an open-air market. Jimmys antagonistic behaviour
and rants against church and state disrupt his marriage. The Jimmy Porter character
captured the frustration of Britains postwar generation with a class system that had
remained intact. Although there had been social reforms after the war and the working class
was provided a better education and achieved greater affluence, its social status had not
improved.
In 1958, following the financial success of the stage production of Look Back in Anger,
Richardson and John Osborne founded the film production company Woodfall Films for the
purpose of allowing directors freedom from studio control and to give new writers,
directors and talent an opportunity to work. The British studios were stultifying and
conservative. (In the 1950s, Richardson was also instrumental in the founding of the British
Theatre Company at the Royal Court Theatre, thus invigorating the English Theatre.) Many
of the best British films of the 1960s were Woodfall productions. (4)
For his first feature, Richardson filmed an adaptation of Look Back in Anger, released in
1959. Starring Richard Burton, the film brought Richardson to prominence, but it retains a
theatrical feel as most of the drama occurs indoors and the dialogue feels scripted.
However, Richardson made an effort to employ tools unique to cinema, shooting a few
scenes on location and using dynamic, fast edits of close-ups. (All of Richardsons films
employ a satisfying use of close-ups). With this fresh approach, Burtons on-screen vitality
and the new socially relevant subject matter, the film is an auspicious beginning to
Richardsons film career. However, today the film seems dated for its passive and mannered
characterization of the female leads.
Richardsons next film, The Entertainer (1960), is also based on a play hed directed for the
theatre. Its about the demise of the career of a third-rate music hall performer, Archie Rice
(Laurence Olivier). Archies financing for a new variety show is bungled, his son is killed
in war and then his music-hall-performer father dies of a heart attack the opening night of a
show they were contracted to do together. Following the fathers death (he was the bigger
draw), the show folds and Archie must leave Britain or go to gaol for tax evasion. Lawrence
Oliviers brilliant portrayal of the blathering Archie Rice and the location shots of the
decaying faades of music halls in the seedy resort town of Morecambe create a dingy
ambience. This film is an oddity and symbolic of the fall of the British Empire; American
rock n roll and television have taken over.
II. Embracing the Wave: Lyrical Social Realism 1961-1962

Richardsons next two films, A Taste of Honey (1961) and The Loneliness of the Long
Distance Runner (1962), are among the greatest of the British New Wave films because
Richardson synthesizes the Nouvelle Vague style and atmospheric lighting of
cinematographer Walter Lassally, the modern scores of John Addison (which use small
musical combos rather than full blown symphonic orchestration) and naturalistic acting of
unknown actors to tell poetic stories that give insight into the souls of ordinary people.
These elements combine to create a lyrical social realism, the trademark of early British
New Wave films.
A Taste of Honey (1961): Commune of Outcasts
While the dialogue in Look Back in Anger and The Entertainer seem scripted, and the films
were largely carried by the strong performances of Richard Burton and Laurence Olivier,
in A Taste of Honey Richardsons ability to elicit nuanced performances from unknown
actors and make dialogue seem natural, funny and fresh comes to the fore. Although he first
directed it on stage, before doing so hed envisioned it as a film and freely adapted Shelagh
Delaneys play for the screen; he was able to realize the story in cinematic terms.
A Taste of Honey offers a realistic portrayal a lower-class teenage girl. Richardson
auditioned more than a two thousand girls before choosing unknown Rita Tushingham for
the role of Jo. (She won an award at Cannes for her performance and her acting career was
launched.) As Jo, Tushingham is defiant, awkward, independent, spunky, childish and
nave. Neglected by her boozy, middle-aged single mother (Dora Bryan), Jo has a flirtatious
relationship with a black sailor who ships off after they spend a night together. Once
finished with secondary school, Jo gets a job in a shoe store and leaves her newly engaged
mother and rents a flat that she offers to share with a lonely homosexual, Geoffrey (Murray
Melvin), a new friend. When Jo discovers that shes pregnant as a result of her night with
the sailor, Geoff offers to be a surrogate father, but Jos mother finally arrives, kicks him
out and moves in, after her younger alcoholic husband dumps her.
From the films start, the score by John Addison varied themes from a childrens game
song Alley, Alley O suggests the passage from childhood to adulthood. Addison had
also worked on Look Back in Anger and The Entertainer, and wrote scores for a majority of

Richardsons best films and plays, winning an Academy Award for the score for Tom Jones.
Addisons contribution to the films of Tony Richardson must not be underestimated. Like
Richardson, Addison adapted different songs, styles and instrumentation to authentically
represent the time and place of each of the films (for example, he taped childrens songs in
Manchester to find a theme song for A Taste of Honey.) The working relationship that
Richardson had with Addison is indicative of Richardsons ability to recognize the creative
potential of his crew and allow them freedom; this may be one reason his films vary so
much in visual style and reflect their time.