It tells the story of Arthur Seaton,played by Albert Finney,



a young Nottingham factory worker, who is having an affair

with Brenda, played by Rachel Robertas,the wife of an older

co-worker. He also has a relationship with Doreen,played by

Shirley Anne Field, a woman closer to his own age.

It is a terrifying glimpse into an age where work, booze,

and death were all that Britain's young men had to look

forward to. "What I want is a good time, the rest is all

propaganda," is Seaton's saying, but in the end, he

realizes he's fighting a losing battle as an affair with

his best friend's wife (Roberts) ends badly. She is

pregnant and her husband finds out about her affair. Arthur

earns a beating from the cuckolded husband's squaddie

brother for his peccadillo. He ends up back with Doreen and

the final scene takes place on the top of a hill where both

of them are talking about their future planes. It seem that

Arthur is finally realizing that marriage is probably

unavoidable. He has fallen in love with Doreen and they end

up talking about what type of house Doreen would like to

eventually live in.

Actually this film takes place about the same time that the

world seems to be going through a cultural revolution that

led us into the sixties. The Beatles,Rolling Stones, and

many other groups will come into their own during this

decade.

This is a black and white film that will end up as a true

classic for its time. Finney was voted the most promising

newcomer at the British Academy's (BAFTA) awards. To me it

kind of symbolized the struggles that most of us go through

during our rebellious younger years and the inevitable

realization about how we are going to spend the rest of our

lives.