A Kind of Loving Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

A Kind of Loving Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 22, 2016

John Schlesinger's "A Kind of Loving" (1962) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors StudioCanal. The supplemental features on the disc include a long excerpt from an archival interview with director John Schlesinger; the short film "Terminus" (1961); exclusive new video interview with broadcaster and author Stuart Maconie; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The unwanted

John Schlesinger officially introduced himself to the rest of the world with this film in 1962. Based on the excellent novel by Stan Barstow, the film went on to win the prestigious Golden Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival and profoundly changed Schlesinger’s career.

Alan Bates plays Vic Brown, a working-class draftsman whose life is one big repetitive cycle of seriously dull and disappointing events. Each day Vic walks to the nearby factory and spends long hours staring at projects that he forgets as soon as he clocks out. Occasionally he would force himself to have a drink with friends, but their company bores him to tears. He also tries to support his favorite football team, but after a long streak of underwhelming games, he no longer feels the urge to routinely visit the local stadium.

The cycle is broken when Vic accidentally bumps into Ingrid Rothwell (June Ritchie), a flirty blonde who works in the same factory as a typist, and she makes it clear that she would love to go out on a date with him. Vic proposes that they see a movie together and when she enthusiastically agrees he concludes that the man upstairs has finally heard his prayers. He has the evidence to prove it -- Ingrid is even better looking than the sexy girl from the dirty magazine that he has been carrying for months in the secret pocket of his coat.

The date does not disappoint. Vic and Ingrid spend more time looking at each other than at the fuzzy black-and-white film. Soon after, they also kiss in a secluded shack in the town’s biggest park. But when Ingrid starts talking about the power of true love and spending the rest of her life with the man of her dreams, Vic becomes visibly nervous.

The lovers and their relationship are put under the microscope when Ingrid reveals that she is pregnant. Vic decides that the right thing to do is to marry her, but soon after the two sign their official wedding certificate a series of events forces Vic to reconsider his commitment.

Schlesinger’s directorial debut offers an unfiltered look at working-class Britain that appears fairly similar to the one promoted in Tony Richardson’s film A Taste of Honey, which was released a year before it. It is worth mentioning that despite their unique flaws both films also embrace their protagonists with similar compassion and in the end part ways with them with practically identical optimism about their future.

In Schlesinger’s film, however, there is more time dedicated on the gap that exists between two very different generations -- that of Vic and Ingrid, which expects and seeks greater freedom and prosperity, and that of their parents, which appears quite uneasy with the fast evolution of traditional values and relationships. The static that emerges between the two is the source of the drama that the film documents. (A similar clash occurs in Richardson's film as well, but there the two opposing sides are the two sexes, and at the end, there is a very different message).

The film relies greatly on the performances of its two stars and they certainly do not disappoint. Bates looks fantastic as the young and quite naïve draftsman who is dying to be in a ‘meaningful’ relationship with an attractive girl. Ritchie is just as good as the flirty blonde who has a crystal clear plan for her future. Thora Hird plays to perfection the utterly annoying mother-in-law.

A Kind of Loving Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, John Schlesinger's A Kind of Loving arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.

The film has been recently restored in 2K and looks absolutely magnificent in high-definition. While detail and clarity are indeed quite spectacular, I was particularly impressed with the all-around balanced fluid appearance that the film has. Even during the darker/nighttime footage, the visuals are quite magnificent. So in terms of contrast, brightness, and grading, the balance could not be any more impressive. There are absolutely no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. There are a few sequences where small fluctuations exist, but they are native fluctuations, not a byproduct of questionable digital work. Overall image stability is excellent. A couple of uneven transitions remain, but these are the type of age-related imperfections that cannot be fully eliminated. (I should say that it is pretty obvious to see that some enhancements have been made to ensure optimal stability). Lastly, there are no distracting large debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, or torn frames to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

A Kind of Loving Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

It is quite obvious that specific work was done to remove hiss, hum and other age-related imperfections because the audio is very clean and stable. Depth is excellent for a film from the early 1960s. Dynamic intensity is modest, but this should not be surprising either. There are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report.

A Kind of Loving Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Kind of Loving & The British New Wave - in this new featurette, Professor John Hill (Royal Holloway, University of London) and lecturer in film studies Melanie Williams (East Anglia University) discuss the socio-cultural environment that existed in Britain during the late 1950s and early 1960s and the new breed of working-class character that was promoted by the films that emerged in the period, Stan Barstow's novel, John Schlesinger's film and the balance in the relationship between Vic and Ingrid, etc. The featurette was produced exclusively for StudioCanal. In English, not subtitled. (11 min).

• Excerpts from NFT Interview with John Schlesinger - presented here is a long excerpt from an archival interview with director John Schlesinger in which he discusses his life and work in the film business, his professional relationship with producer Joseph Janni, the production histories of Darling, Billy Liar, Kind of Loving, etc. The interview was conducted in 1988. In English, not subtitled. (21 min).

• Terminus (1961) - an early short film from John Schlesinger about daily activities and traffic at the Waterloo Station. In English, not subtitled. (34 min).

• Interview with Stuart Maconie - in this brand new video interview, broadcaster and author Stuart Maconie discusses the role working-class people and culture have in the films from The British New Wave, as well the dilemmas the two protagonists in A Kind of Loving face. The interview was conducted exclusively for StudioCanal. In English, not subtitled. (19 min).

A Kind of Loving Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

John Schlesinger's directorial debut is a simple yet delightfully refreshing film about two young people with different ambitions in life who fall in love in an unnamed Northern England town during the 1960s. I think that Schlesinger's best work comes from this early period, between the 1960s and the early 1970s, and it is great to see that a lot of these films are now available on Blu-ray. StudioCanal's new restoration of A Kind of Loving is outstanding and I am convinced that their new Blu-ray release will remain the definitive presentation of the film on the home video market. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.