Movie: Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)

I was in my early twenties when this film came out and I went to see it several times. 

For a basically closeted gay person (which most of us were in 1971 - you had your friends but in that era the wrong person "finding out" could mean the loss of your job, housing or family) this movie, where being gay was simply a fact, not a source of drama, was wonderful.

I wondered if I would find the film dated after all these years but I didn't, not in the least.  But I also wonder how a young person coming to the film for the first time now would react - would they find it had any interest for them or any relation to their life.  To me there was much that was universal but I'm an old fart now and what to me is full of significance may mean nothing to the young.

I loved that this film was so very visual - so much was conveyed with no dialogue or comment.  A quick smile or a wine glass lifted slightly in a silent salute speaks volumes. 

As so often in British productions every character, no matter how short the screen time, felt real and had a narrative purpose.  No filler anywhere.

Glenda Jackson and Peter Finch.  Well, they're Glenda Jackson and Peter Finch.