Billy Liar

Billy Liar

classified PG

Working Class Heroes: British Working Class on Film

Film

Please note: This was screened in Sept 2018

Director
John Schlesinger
Cast
Tom Courtenay, Julie Christie, Wilfred Pickles
Details
99 mins, 1963, UK
Primary language
English

Few films tell a heartbreaking story as hilariously as this must-see classic in which Tom Courtenay stars as a young clerk lost to daydreams in his Yorkshire home town. But will they ever come true?

Billy Fisher (Courtenay) is a bored undertaker's clerk in the 1950s who daydreams of an imaginary world to escape from his dull life, whilst simultaneously struggling to keep his two fianceés from finding out about each other. But when an old girlfriend returns to the area, offering him the chance of a fresh start, is he brave enough to leave his fantasies behind?

Released into a Britain newly smitten with working-class pop culture, it forever sealed the fame of dockworker’s son Tom Courtenay, whose iconic lead performance really shines. Yet beneath all the playfulness, Billy Liar is also a masterclass in melancholy. Viewed through the prism of fantasy this unique work in British cinema is at its heart a touching portrait of ambition aching to break out of suffocating conformity and social expectation.


× Close

Help us make our website work better for you

We use Google Analytics to gather information on how our website is used. This information helps us to make changes to our website that improve the usefulness and overall experience for our visitors. If you would like to help us to make continuous improvements to our website, please allow us to set "first-party" cookies (only readable by us) so that we can distinguish visitors and gain greater insights.

Allow cookies for analytics Deny cookies for analytics