Teenage Audiences And British Period Drama

Tony Richardson continued in the vein of kitchen-sink realism with this adaptation of Shelagh Delaney's novel of working-class life. Set in England in the early 1960s, A TASTE OF HONEY stars Rita Tushingham as the waifish Jo, a plain 17-year-old girl who is dragged from one shabby bed-sitter to another by Helen (Dora Bryan), her promiscuous, alcoholic termagant of a mother. When Helen and her current lover, Peter (Robert Stephens), take a holiday in Blackpool, Jo goes along and, while walking on the beach, meets Jimmy (Paul Danquah), a black sailor on leave. After they spend the night together Jimmy's ship leaves for points unknown. Helen and Peter have impulsively decided to marry, and they move into his flat, leaving Jo in the cold. She gets a job in a shoe store, where she meets gay and mild-mannered Geoffrey, and the two decide to move into a flat together. Jo soon discovers she's carrying Jimmy's child, news that depresses her. But Geoffrey couldn't be happier, and he begins knitting baby clothes, goes to a clinic for child-care instruction, and even offers to marry Jo. This moving film is exceptionally well acted and directed; it is a tribute to Richardson's boldness in taking on the theme of miscegenation, then a much more controversial issue.

AKA is the story of a disaffected youth's search for love, status, and identity in late 1970s Britain. 18-year old Dean is handsome and bright, but feels hampered by his working-class background and by his family. In order to make something of himself, Dean assumes another identity and manages to enter high society. As he navigates this decadent new world, he meets a host of characters, including David, an older gay man who desires him, and Benjamin, a young hustler from Texas who has also managed to find a place among the aristocracy. Can Dean find love while living a lie? How much is he willing to sacrifice in order to pull off his charade? Presented through three simultaneous frames rather than one.