Up the Junction

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 The film captures a lost world – it's a fascinating historical document as well as a serious movie.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.

A portrayal of women's lives in 1960s working class Battersea, through the eyes of a girl from Chelsea, hence an outsider. Based on the better known book by Nell Dunn, from which it departs significantly, making the ill-fated affair with Dennis Waterman's character the central narrative. Beautifully done. Deserves to be better known than it is.

Peter Collinson was already mellowing after his directorial debut with the incredibly nasty home invasion film 'The Penthouse' (1967); and let loose on Nell Dunn's stories in Technicolor with Manfred Mann on the soundtrack was obviously going to turn in a very different film from Ken Loach's 'Wednesday Play' of 1965.

What seemed like gritty realism in 1967 today seems as remote as the world evoked by Dickens (complete with Jewish stereotypes which really date it). Maureen Lipman is almost unrecognisably young and it's always good to see Adrienne Posta and Liz Fraser (who share a literally gut-renching sequence after the former has an abortion performed by a drunken Hylda Baker).

But the real star is Battersea power station, looming in the background back in the days when it was still permitted to smoke.

Up The Junction was made during the Summer of 1967 though there isn't much love & peace to be found in this film. Arguably the only likeable characters are Polly, an uptown girl who's trying to slum it in Battersea, and Pete (Dennis Waterman) the 'bit of rough' she falls for, and they're not without flaws. I always loved Dennis Waterman in Minder and his character in this film could easily pass for a young Terry McCann; anyone who doubts his ability as a straight actor should watch the showdown between Pete and Polly in the hotel room. The two sisters Sylvie and Rube are sweet & bubbly on the outside but later on reveal a nasty side, especially when mocking a work colleague who appears to have learning difficulties.

Apart from Pete, all the men are depicted as selfish, sex mad and prone to violence.

Up The Junction came out a few years after the golden age of kitchen sink drama, and maybe lacks their gritty Northern humour, but there's still plenty to recommend including some lovely, sweeping London skylines, nice views of the iconic Battersea power station, and a groovy soundtrack by Manfred Mann. Anyone nostalgic for the late 1960s will probably enjoy it.

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