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Synopsis
Tired of her comfortable life in Chelsea, Polly (Suzy Kendall, To Sir With Love) decides to go 'slumming' in Battersea to see how the other half lives. She soon settles into her new digs, gets a job at a factory, and makes some friends. When one of those friends accidentally falls pregnant, Polly is awakened to the reality that abortion is illegal and can only be gotten through shady back-street dealings. Controversial at the time of its release due to the uncomfortable subject matter, Up the Junction presents a gritty, unappealing view of working class life in Britain, and calls to mind such kitchen sink dramas as Mike Leigh's Vera Drake and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Based on the novel of the same name by Nell Dunn.
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), English ( Mono ), English ( Subtitles ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Interactive Menu, Remastered, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Eighteen year-old Polly decides to turn her back on her wealthy background in Chelsea and undertake a more `down to earth' lifestyle. She moves to Battersea and gets a job in a sweet factory where she is initiated into a way of life she had previously been sheltered from. She later meets Peter, a nineteen year old second-hand furniture assistant, who aspires to be part of the world she has just left. The film centres on the relationship between two young people with conflicting ambitions. Based on the novel of the same name by Nell Dunn. ...Up the Junction
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
51 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
...and what a revelation! This is one of those films that we all should know but has until now remained elusive, only really being somewhat familiar through Manfred Mann's excellent soundrack (or an old beat up paperback of the novel perhaps). As good as the music has always been the film bursts with beauty, marrying the visuals with the sound so much better that expected. Suzy Kendall is mesmerizing. The photography is brilliantly detailed, almost unbelievably colorful for such potentially dour content and the closeups are amongst the best I have ever seen. In addition the film allows Adrienne Posta to actually have more of a role than I had seen her in previously, Liz Frazer doesn't play the bimbo (entirely), we get Ringo's aunt from Magical Mystery Tour Jessie Robins and a brief but scintillating cameo from a very young Susan George. The rest of the cast are very good and it is fun to see the very likable Dennis Waterman in his first role. Suzy Kendall is so good in this, I can't believe I seemed to have missed her in To Sir with Love even though I've seen it several times. Now that we also have the fantastic Privilege on dvd, if we can get Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush and Work is a Four Letter Word released we can really celebrate! Jean Shrimpton, Judy Geeson and Angela Scoular - the UK in the 60's had an embarrassment of riches.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
One of the most insightful, thought provoking, astute and artistic British movies ever made. And for lovers of London on film, this movie is a must to own, as it portrays Battersea with a real passion, and has some very artistic camera work. It is a very spirited piece of work and you sense that everyone in it believes in it, and isn't just in it for the fame or the money. It is very much a film of its era, and it may be hard for young 20somethings now to relate to, because who talks about the class system and how it affects people's lives now? This was a very 1960s subject, with a lot of radically minded young graduates having had their lives changed by discovering the works of Marx and Gramsci at Univerity and their idealism was one of the main catalysts for the whole swinging 60s scene.
Julie Christie lookalike Suzy Kendall plays the posh young idealist who follows her dream of leaving her stuffy and over privileged life in Chelsea to slum it among the 'more real', 'more alive' people of downmarket Battersea. Her resulting journey looks both nostalgic and other worldly to us now, and perhaps it was laid on a bit thick with the class divide thing and the experiencing real life stuff, but this WAS a different era to today. So it romanticises the lives of down at heel but good hearted Londoners somewhat, and maybe even overstates the effects of the class divide a little but it does make for a moving film experience. Has some fantastically arty scenes, such as the courting scene in the half demolished house where they look out through the rubble at London with an orange sunset. It is both very astute and faintly naive, and really bigs up the idealism of Suzy Kendall's character, who is overall a very believable 1960s character. The town of Chelsea is refered to as though it's almost a mythical Camelot that's hidden Kendall away from the real life she longs for, and it builds on this fairytale image by pointing the camera across the Thames towards Chelsea, but rightly doesn't go there.
With an evocative 60s score, career making performances from several now very familiar actors including a breathtakingly good Maureen Lipman, some great dialogue, some classic shots of London and some social issues given the social realism treatment-1960s style, Up the Junction is one of the most memorable and unique British films out there on DVD.
Julie Christie lookalike Suzy Kendall plays the posh young idealist who follows her dream of leaving her stuffy and over privileged life in Chelsea to slum it among the 'more real', 'more alive' people of downmarket Battersea. Her resulting journey looks both nostalgic and other worldly to us now, and perhaps it was laid on a bit thick with the class divide thing and the experiencing real life stuff, but this WAS a different era to today. So it romanticises the lives of down at heel but good hearted Londoners somewhat, and maybe even overstates the effects of the class divide a little but it does make for a moving film experience. Has some fantastically arty scenes, such as the courting scene in the half demolished house where they look out through the rubble at London with an orange sunset. It is both very astute and faintly naive, and really bigs up the idealism of Suzy Kendall's character, who is overall a very believable 1960s character. The town of Chelsea is refered to as though it's almost a mythical Camelot that's hidden Kendall away from the real life she longs for, and it builds on this fairytale image by pointing the camera across the Thames towards Chelsea, but rightly doesn't go there.
With an evocative 60s score, career making performances from several now very familiar actors including a breathtakingly good Maureen Lipman, some great dialogue, some classic shots of London and some social issues given the social realism treatment-1960s style, Up the Junction is one of the most memorable and unique British films out there on DVD.
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
A priviledged Chelsea girl, Suzy Kendall, crosses the river to Wandsworth to mix in with the local working-class people in order that she can escape what she believes is her drab and stuffy life. She has the family chauffeur drop her off on the far side of Battersea Bridge and she sets off to land herself a job on the production line of a local sweet factory. Soon, she is accepted by her colleagues and finds herself a room to lodge in. Buying furniture for her place, she meets a local boy (Dennis Waterman). She has a rude awakening when she comes to experience the seemy side of British working class life from which her boyfriend is so desparate to escape and leave behind.
I think that this adaption from the Nell Dunn story is a true classic of sixties British cinema. There are crisp, vibrant colours and a fantastic sound-track from Manfred Mann that is very reminiscent of the sound of Crosby, Stills & Nash that was still to come. There are also some fine character performances from the likes of Maureen Lipman and Adrienne Posta. The subject matter is very contemporary as abortion was only just being de-criminalised at the time
I've just bought this film on DVD, having previously being conned into buying a pirated copy on E-bay (out of desparation at its non-availability). The picture is a revalation (full wide-screen) and the sound is very good. Unfortunately, there are no extras. I would have thought Dennis Waterman, with all his exposure on tv in recent years, could have at least been given the opportunity of providing an audio commentary, but I'm not complaining.
I think that this adaption from the Nell Dunn story is a true classic of sixties British cinema. There are crisp, vibrant colours and a fantastic sound-track from Manfred Mann that is very reminiscent of the sound of Crosby, Stills & Nash that was still to come. There are also some fine character performances from the likes of Maureen Lipman and Adrienne Posta. The subject matter is very contemporary as abortion was only just being de-criminalised at the time
I've just bought this film on DVD, having previously being conned into buying a pirated copy on E-bay (out of desparation at its non-availability). The picture is a revalation (full wide-screen) and the sound is very good. Unfortunately, there are no extras. I would have thought Dennis Waterman, with all his exposure on tv in recent years, could have at least been given the opportunity of providing an audio commentary, but I'm not complaining.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Nostalgic
I love this film and it was wonderful to see the places that I knew as a child. The film is an accurate portrayal of life in Clapham at that time and of the people who lived and... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Donna
Boring
a litle bit boring actually. You wont watch it for a second time. I only bought it because I like Denis Waterman, but in this film, he is truely a boy actor. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Lee
Up the junction review
Saw this film a long time ago. Mr Waterman was okay, wasn't he....! Still a good film and worth another look, or two. Package arrived fast and efficiently.
Published 3 months ago by Mrs. C. Lea
A trip down memory lane
I can remember watching this years ago and it was a trip down memory lane to watch it again. Must be a sign of getting older but there was something to be said of the 60's.
Published 3 months ago by Jay123
up the junction/my review
This is a lovely dvd I love the characters and the 1960s settings as I know the area quite well.
Published 4 months ago by cherry
GREAT 60S MOVIE
A wonderful slice of 60s drama about rich posh girl slumming it with the working class on the other side of the river. Read more
Published 6 months ago by G. mckenzie
OUTSTANDING TRANSFER!
This film deserves a place in anybody's collection who is interested in swinging 60's London. The film centres on two characters, Polly, played by Suzy Kendall, and Peter, played... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Graham
up the junction 60's classic
So many actors from the 60,s together in a great film,simple story well directed and true to life.Working class making the most of their lives.
Published 7 months ago by hair bear
Brilliant and unbiased
Amongst some of the best cultural films that have ever been made in the 1960s, 'Up The Junction' stands well and truly apart from the 'Mod-Rockers' scene. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Miss Shikira Pressley
Up the Junction
How could anyone who lived in London at the time this film was made, not enjoy all
the memories it brings back. Both Dennis
Waterman and Maureen Lipman shine.
the memories it brings back. Both Dennis
Waterman and Maureen Lipman shine.
Published 13 months ago by Hetty
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