Tripwire Reviews StudioCanal’s Restoration Of Billy Liar

Northern Exposure

Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows just reviewed StudioCanal’s 4K UHD restoration of John Schlesinger’s kitchen sink classic Billy Liar, out now on Blu-Ray…

Billy Liar 4K UHD Restoration
Director: John Schlesinger
Stars: Tom Courtenay, Julie Christie, Wlfred Pickles, Helen Fraser and Mona Washbourne

To celebrate the centenary of acclaimed British director John Schlesinger, Studio Canal has just released a 4K UHD restored version of one of his most well-known films, British new wave drama Billy Liar.

Courtenay plays fantasist Billy Fisher, the Billy Liar of the title, who works as a clerk in a Yorkshire town and dreams of leaving his drab existence. Based on the play by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, Billy finds himself stuck in his drab existence, creating fictional country Ambrosia as a means of escape from his repetitive life. He is also caught between two girlfriends, one of whom is the glamourous Liz (Christie) who offers him a potential way out of his dead-end life. Billy Liar was a hugely significant film both for Schlesinger and for Courtenay and it’s seen as one of the most important of the British kitchen sink dramas of the era.

Visually, Schlesinger chronicles the drabness of early Sixties Northern life with an idiosyncratic eye and he portrays the fictional land of Ambrosia that Billy dreams of with a smartly satirical approach. There is a mordant humour here especially in the scenes between Billy and his parents played by Wilfred Pickles and Mona Washbourne while Courtenay brings Billy to life with a practised ease. The supporting cast including a small role from Leonard Rossiter as Billy’s boss and Rodney Bewes as his work colleague Arthur Crabtree add a touch of class here. It does feel a little theatrical in place, belying its genesis but the director manages to help it transcend its origins, giving parts of it a lyrical but gritty elegance. In fact, the juxtaposition between its portrayal of ordinary, Northern life with the flamboyance of his depictions of Ambrosia act as an effective counterpoint.

The restoration here really helps to make the imagery here pop off the screen.

In terms of extras, the filmed interviews with cast members Courtenay and Fraser do give the viewer a little extra context into its making and its significance.

Billy Liar is a British film which still has huge impact today and its influence can still be felt 63 years after its initial release in the work of directors like Stanley Kubrick and much later in the work of Mike Leigh, Ken Loach and even to a lesser extent Danny Boyle, and It is a worthy addition to StudioCanal’s library of British cinema and a valid addition to their growing collection of restored British classic films.

JOEL MEADOWS

Billy Liar 4K UHD Restoration is on Blu-Ray from StudioCanal now.