Good and Bad at Games

Other reviewers have eloquently explained why this is such a painfully accurate and disturbing drama - particularly if you went to a school like this, of which there were many. The outsider Niles particularly rings true - desperate to be accepted, but despised by Mount, Joyce and Harrop. It is such a shame that Channel 4 don't repeat the film or make it available on DVD. I can only assume it is because of Niles' nickname - even though the whole point of the name is to show the obnoxiousness of the characters of Mount, Joyce and Harrop and to emphasise that Niles will always be an outsider to them.

Thanks to the helpfulness of a fellow IMDb member I've just managed to watch this film for the second time in nearly twenty years, and I can honestly say it hasn't lost any of its kick. I can't believe that Channel 4 have let this one vanish without a trace as it is an extremely powerful, moving and moralistic take on the consequences of misplaced loyalty.

It focuses on a clique of friends over the course of ten years and their relationship with two 'outsiders' from school; specifically how they use one and mercilessly torment the other. As events from both the past and present unfold the tension gradually thickens, not dissimilar to Shane Meadows' excellent revenge-chiller Dead Man's Shoes. The acting, writing and direction are very bold for 1983 and still pack a wallop today in spite of the upper crust accents of the central characters. Yes, it might be set in public school but it's worlds apart from anything put out by Merchant Ivory; I got a state education and can still draw countless parables from the story.

This is a film that you'll remember for a long time if you see it - except you probably won't, because Channel 4 (or FilmFour) have chosen to bury it. On their own official website they describe it as "an inexplicably overlooked gem from the early days of Channel 4" - overlooked by who? This was one of the very first Channel 4 films (which would later go on to become FilmFour thanks to the success of films like Trainspotting), so somewhere someone must still have the master print. In these days where you can get extended collector's issue DVDs of more or less anything it's a bit moody that they can't give a film this good the promotion it deserves.

So, if one of the Channel 4 production flunkies is reading this, stop making programmes that showcase people humiliating themselves in the hope of securing a tabloid deal, chase up this film and sort out a nice special anniversary edition disc or something, please!

I absolutely love this film and have seen it many times. I taped it in about 1987 when it was shown on Channel Four but my tape is severely worn now and I would love a new copy of it.I have e-mailed Film Four to ask them to show it again as it has never been available on video and as far as I know hasn't been repeated since the 80's. I have had no reply and it still hasn't been repeated. The performances are superb. The film has everything. Its funny,sad,disturbing,exciting and totally takes you back to school days. It is extremely well paced and grips you from start to end. The scene in the shower room is particularly horrific. I also cannot hear the song Badge by Cream and not think of this film. This film deserves to be seen by a much larger audience as it is superb. Channel Four please show again or release on Video or DVD.

I saw this as a teenager in the early 80s on VHS. It stuck in memory. I then came across this on Youtube many years later. I went to boarding school in England the 80s. It was only on re-watching that I appreciated that this film characterises every type of boy that went (or goes?) to these schools. There are two protagonists - one is a loser who knows it (and knows who to blames), the other is a loser who doesn't know it and only realises this at the end. Both lose in the end. The most pathetic figure is the thick Niles. Really believing he is one of the gang, either too stupid (or in denial) to realise that it is only his sporting proneness that leads to him being included in the gang. The film brilliantly captures the loneliness and fear of the bullied Cox. At the beginning there are tragic scenes where Cox is forced to and then tries to ingratiate himself with the schools sportsmen. Anton Lesser is fantastic. He switches between cowered victim to futile obsessed avenger. Martyn Stanbridge is brilliant as the hapless Niles. The bullies are clever, witty (Colenso) but one dimensional. They inflict humiliation on Cox without even thinking about it - it is just something they do when the situation arises. I thought the dramatisation of the the bystanders- grinning as more humiliation is inflicted in Cox and then inflicting it themselves - was wholly accurate. It is the constant grinding humiliation of Cox that sticks in the mind as well as indifference the bullies show to their victims (including Niles) - treating them as objects and 'other' from them.

So watch this on Youtube. There are no satisfying denouements (as in real life): the arrogant and privileged win and losers lose. The picture quality is lousy, but this will stick in your mind especially if you went to one of these schools. However, my brother, who went to regular secondary school saw it once and loved it. Channel 4 -repeat this now. The main soundtrack - just one song by Cream - is inspired.

here in Germany it was only shown on TV one time. today, as everything becomes mainstream, it's absolute impossible, to watch a film like this again on the screen. maybe it's the same in USA, or especially GB. The Message is a brutal truth : Find friends to make your ideas come a bit closer to reality, or you become a loser, if not an asshole instead.

The whole film is not particularly as simple, as it may seem here. Every little scene, every sentence, every behavior of the characters show a sharp look at what could happen, when one person is not accepted in a sadistic crowd, which calls itself normal.

Very well played by all this is a must seen. Who is the main character? John (not Cox, folks, remember ;-) ore Niles (who still is Bimbo) Decide and you will get the plot as it is intended.

A bitter look at what society becomes in a repressive system. Kind of Salingers Catcher in the rye and Goldings Lord of the flies thought to the very end.

The Final maybe change your own mind. Word