Look Back in Anger is a 1959 British drama film directed by Tony Richardson. It is an adaptation of John Osborne's play of the same title.
Jimmy Porter (Richard Burton) is a frustrated young man living in the industrial Midlands town of Derby. Despite having a university degree, he has somehow found himself manning a candy store in an open-air market along with his buddy Cliff (Gary Raymond). Jimmy is embarrassed by this and is happier when he's at his night job, playing the trumpet in a jazz club.
A bigger problem is Jimmy's marriage to Alison (Mary Ure). Alison is a posh upper-middle-class girl who married working-class Jimmy despite vocal opposition from her parents. Alison doesn't complain about living in a cramped attic apartment without running water, but Jimmy seems to hate his wife for being of a higher social status than he is. He spends most of his time screaming at her.
Into Jimmy and Alison's unhappy marriage comes Helena (Claire Bloom), an actress who is staying with the Porters while she stars in a play. Helena is shocked by how terribly Jimmy treats Alison, and urges her to leave him. But she's attracted to bad boy Jimmy herself.
Donald Pleasence appears in one of his first roles as Hurst, the market inspector.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: The character of Mrs. Tanner, Jimmy's former landlady who helped stake him to the candy wagon, is The Ghost in the play. In the film she appears onscreen, as she and Jimmy go to visit her husband's grave, and later he goes to her deathbed after she has a stroke. The subplot about Jimmy potentially losing his license to sell candy is also an addition.
- Anti-Hero: Jimmy, the protagonist, is an angry man who hates his wife for having the effrontery to come from a rich family. He is always screaming at her and emotionally abusing her.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Helena's response to Jimmy being a screaming Jerkass is to say "I've never seen such hatred in someone's eyes before. It's horrifying. Horrifying... yet oddly exciting." Sure enough, after Alison leaves, they become lovers.
- Chiaroscuro: The first scene has Jimmy leaving the jazz club and wandering down the starkly lit streets of Derby. There is a very similar dramatically lit shot at the end, when Jimmy meets Alison at the railroad overpass.
- Drowning Our Romantic Sorrows: Helena and Alison drink together at the railroad station bar. After finding out that Alison lost the baby, Helena decides to bow out of the Love Triangle and let Jimmy get back together with Alison.
- Due to the Dead: Mrs. Tanner goes to her husband's grave and leaves flowers.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: A realistic example. A pregnant Alison asks her doctor, "Is it too late to do anything?" Because it's 1959 England the doctor refuses to help her.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: After being surprised by meeting Alison at the train station, Helena brings over a couple of drinks. She hands Alison one and says "I think this is what you need...what we both need."
- Jerkass: Jimmy is angry and hostile and subjects his poor wife to a torrent of non-stop verbal abuse. He's not without humanizing moments, like when he gives Alison a seemingly heartfelt apology after one of his tirades, but they're outweighed by his overall nastiness and despair.
- Kick the Dog: Jimmy has a bunch, but arguably peaks when he wishes his wife would have a child and lose it, the precise scenario which plays out in Act III
- Kitchen Sink Drama: Osbourne's original play was one of the first examples of the trope. The drama revolves around an angry young man discontent with his lot in life, and how he's venting his rage on his long-suffering wife.
- Love Triangle: Jimmy, his wife Alison who is verging on Broken Bird status thanks to how much he screams at her, and Helena, who dislikes Jimmy but finds herself attracted to him.
- Slap-Slap-Kiss: The Belligerent Sexual Tension between Jimmy and Helena culminates when he says "You evil-minded little virgin!", and she slaps him. Then they kiss, then they have sex.
- Spontaneous Choreography: Somehow, Cliff always knows every line of the songs that Jimmy is making up off the top of his head.
- Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion: In the silly little song that Jimmy and Cliff sing."Those forgotten middle classes may have fallen on their...noses!"
- Uptown Girl: Jimmy is of a much lower social status than his wife. This seems to bother him a lot more than it does her; in fact he seems to hate her for being with him, imagining at all times that she looks down on him.
