Up the Junction

This is one of my all time favourite films. OK so the plot is not fantastic ( certainly better than some of the same era !! ), but anyone who loves the 60's will revel in its nostalgia, the cars, the buildings, the fashions.... simply superb!, it all harks back to a much more simpler, although harder way of life. I was born in the 60's & love the 50's/60,s era, this film started my interest in films of this time, so if you love this film then also see :- A KIND OF LOVING. LONELINESS OF A LONG DISTANCE RUNNER. POOR COW. LEATHER BOYS. CATHY COME HOME. Saturday NIGHT , Sunday MORNING. SMASHING TIME. HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH. BILLY LIAR. A TASTE OF HONEY. SPARROWS CANT SING. GIRL WITH GREEN EYES. A KID FOR 2 FARTHINGS. TO SIR WITH LOVE. So close the curtains, put the cat out, turn the lights off & watch this film.... you will be hooked, i promise !

I first saw this film on late night TV in Melbourne, Australia, in the late 1980s. I love it then, but wasn't able to view it again until recently, and enjoyed it as much as my first viewing almost 30 years earlier.

One of the first things I remembered thinking after first viewing it is – why isn't this film better known? It's one of the great British films of the 1960s, and a fine example of the 'kitchen sink' genre. Added to that, it has superb widescreen cinematography – every scene is beautifully shot, the outdoor scenes particularly so. Working class London in the 60s was a ramshackle, beautiful if run-down environment. The film captures a lost world – it's a fascinating historical document as well as a serious movie.

The cast is spot on,it's all very believable, and the leads have a genuine chemistry. Suzy Kendall may have had a limited acting range – but she's perfect in this role. And so beautiful!

The story tackles all manner of social problems not just of the 60s, but universal ones applicable today as then. Some scenes are still quite disturbing to watch – this is not some 'swinging London' expose, but an accurate glimpse in to the life of working class Londoners before the gentrification process started.

I was fortunate to study British film at Monash Univeristy (Melbourne) under the great Brian MacFarlane in the 1990s. He's considered the world expert on British cinema, and was commissioned by the British Film Academy to write the authorised history of British cinema. One of the things MacFarlane consistently highlighted was the fact Brit film only began to portray the working class seriously from the late 1950s. Prior to that, working class were portrayed in movies as either servants, idiots, criminals or downtrodden miners etc. Up the Junction is a beautifully realised example of a time when the British finally began to take the working class seriously.

It's also the first film I can think of with a soundtrack written by a well known rock band – Manfred Mann. And though dated – the music is perfect for this film and captures something of the youth vibe then flowering across the western world. Truly – this is a shamefully underrated film and a must-see for anyone interested in London in the 1960s.

Though justifiably not considered a particularly important British film of the late sixties, "Up The Junction" has much genuine charm and remains a film for which I have a lot of affection.

Written by Nell Dunn, who specialized in portraying working class life, the characters are well drawn and brought to life with much conviction by a fine cast, some of whom have lasted and some who somehow faded away.

Whereas leading man Dennis Waterman went on to a long career in both television and on the stage, the lovely Suzy Kendall, who seemed to be headed towards becoming the next Julie Christie, proceeded to an undistinguished career. There's a touching chemistry between the pair.

Likewise the strong supporting players have had varied careers. The pairing of Maureen Lipman and Andrienne Posta was so successful in this film, that there was talk of them becoming a comedy team. Like Waterman, Lipman has been a regular on television and the stage, while Posta simply vanished.

"Up the Junction" too has vanished into obscurity, without even a video release. It's odd that while other far lesser British movies of the same period have been kept alive, this small but very appealing work should suffer such a fate.

A very likeable if dated view of working class 60's London viewed the eyes of upper crust Polly Dean. Several tough and controversial issues (illegal abortions & wife beating) are covered which must have been brave at the time that the film was made. Strangely prophetic in the 'gentrification' of Battersea (one of the up-areas in recent property prices). Having been in the year I was born, I cannot fully comment on the authenticity of this films view of 60's life. However from my perspective and that of older relatives it is fairly accurate. The soundtrack (by Manfred Mann) is a superb slab of sixties beat\psychedelia. The characters are very likeable and the film is in my opinion a good introduction for any scholar of the period. 9/10

As someone who was born and brought up in Battersea in the 60's and 70's I can certainly attest that the tone of the film is spot-on.

Battersea was then a very working-class and rather depressed district, despite counting the very wealthy areas of Westminster and Chelsea as near neighbors. Today the difference is barely noticeable; then it hit one in the face.

Given the politics of the day, when unions were strong, the Communist Party of Great Britain still had a respectable face, and protests against the Vietnam War were taking place, the idea of a well-off young woman moving to south London to 'see things for herself' is not odd at all. Nowadays of course, it's the done thing to move to run down areas in the hope of seeing property prices rise.....

The film should be appreciated for what it is, a well-acted, involving and accurate snapshot of a less glamorous place and time in "Swinging 60's" London. About as good as you'll get without a time machine.