Product Description

This fine drama dealing with a bisexual triangle between two men and a woman features a particularly intelligent script. Jackson and Finch give what are arguably the finest performances of their careers.System Requirements:Starring: Glenda Jackson Peter Finch Peggy Ashcroft Murray Head Directed By: John Schlesinger Running Time: 110 Min. Color Copyright 2003 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 027616895370 Manufacturer No: 1005209

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41012 in DVD
• Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
• Released on: 2003-09-16
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 110 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Sunday Bloody Sunday is a masterpiece from the days when movies, in general, were much more mature. As written by renowned film critic Penelope Gilliatt and directed by John Schlesinger, this complicated love triangle among three upscale Londoners was a milestone for its time, not simply for its nonchalant treatment of a homosexual relationship, but for illustrating the way sensible adults will negotiate for love, even if it's inconvenient or destined to fail. A doctor in his forties, Daniel (Peter Finch, proving his greatness seven years before Network) loves the much younger artist Bob (Murray Head), who also loves employment counselor Alex (Glenda Jackson at her finest). There's no deception between them--just the troubling dilemma of three lovers with differing degrees of certainty and commitment. Bob's relative blandness is the film's only weakness, but it's tolerable in a drama so deeply understanding of complex human behavior. Deliberately paced but immensely rewarding to the attentive viewer, this was Schlesinger's follow-up to Midnight Cowboy--two great films by a director in his prime. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

"It Is So Seventies !"
I have loved this film since it was first released in Canada. I saw it at a theatre on Yonge Street in Toronto at a Saturday matinee where the kiss between the two men started a mini-riot sparked by some teen-aged boys in the audience. They were probably expecting a gangster movie !
I have over the years recommended the film, and loaned my VHS and DVD copies to people younger than myself who universally seem to have the same reaction, "It is so Seventies !" Never mind that it is one of the best acted films of its decade, and that it unflinchingly examines complex relationships with an honesty and integrity that would not be equaled for many years. (Possibly until BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN.)
Essentially it is the tale of a complex triangle, one part straight, one part gay, where both relationships are going down the tubes simultaneously. The young man (Murray Head) at the center of both relationships is unaware of, or indifferent to, the hurt that he is causing his two lovers.
The acting of Glenda Jackson and Peter Finch is superb. Jackson is subtle and fascinating throughout, and Finch reaches a heartbreaking integrity in his final little speech spoken directly to the audience. Murray Head is better as the young artist who ignites the passions of the two others than he was generally given credit for. You need to see both his allure and his indifference, and he handles this tricky dichotomy very well.
Although it is very dark in mood much of the time, there are some sparks of humor, some of them provided by Bessie Love as a nosy operator at an answering service shared by the three protagonists. The children that are being babysat by Jackson and Finch on the "bloody" weekend alluded to in the title, are a very smart observation of bright over-indulged children of the well educated upper-middle class. Jon Finch puts in a brief and disturbing appearance as a hustler that Finch has known sometime in his past.
I seem to remember reading that the "bar mitzvah" reception scene in the film was the most expensive food scene ever in film up to that time because they had to keep re-shooting it. It too provides some humor when Finch is sat down next to a recently divorced woman by his well intentioned and unaware family.
The gorgeous terzetto from Mozart's opera COSI FAN TUTTE that provides the frequently repeated "theme" for the film is an ideal choice. An operatic scene with a gorgeous melody which is about benevolent farewells
provides a moving sonic envelope for some of the most moving moments.
Is the film 'too seventies !' I think not. That the seventies were a time of overly casual sexual relationships is a media commonplace that doesn't really hold up to close scrutiny. There is nothing casual about the relationships ending in this film. At least two of the protagonists will be affected by their breakups for the rest of their lives.

a fine film
I couldn't add anything over/above that which has been said already about this film (in a variety of places, readily consultable). While I found "Women in Love" to be perhaps slightly more compelling, this is a very satisfying film; and I am very glad to have found a copy at last.

A very thinky movie, considering
that it deals with two attractivre, middle-aged people, a man and a woman, deeply in love with the same young man, who returns both their loves (in fact, seems to be the most sexually agressive of the three), but who will not choose between the other two, and generally refuses to be crowded in any way. It seems that before the movie starts, both Alex (Glenda Jackson) and Daniel (Peter Finch) have agreed to this arrangement, no matter how uncomfortable it makes both of them. This makes for a superficially sophisticated, easy situation which is actually seething with emotion and frustration. Both of these people are rich in understanding, and seem as complete as a love-torn individual could be-- though Daniel easily has the more fulilling life (Alex is about to quit her job, and Daniel is an extremely competent doctor, whose feelings never interfere with his giving all his attention to his patients).

When Bob, the young man, decides to leave for New York anyway (to further his own career, an because he IS feeling too much pressure from both of them), Daniel says "it was better than nothing," while Alex says "sometimes, nothing is better than something." Is this a function of their belonging to two different sexes, or is one of them wrong, and the other one right?

Also, it occurs to me that a person's being unable to commit himself to you might have nothing to do with you; it might simply be that it is the wrong time for him to commit himself to anyone. Is this the case with Bob, the younger man?

That's what I meant by "thinky."