Private Road (1970)

I only wanted to watch this movie for one reason- Bruce Robinson. 
The man made one of the finest films ever made on Gort's grim Earth- Withnail And I, a love-letter to the male of the species and one of the funniest films ever made. Never met a person who didn't love it. 
This means that the man has earned my interest in anything he's made but unfortunately his writing and directing is not as prolific as one might hope, so that means I have to widen my search to anything he's been involved in. 
So when I saw that the BFI had released Private Road, on their forgotten curiosity home video label, BFI Flipside and that it starred Bruce- it peaked my interest.  Before directing, Robinson had been an actor in the 60's and 70's. He was in Zefferelli's Romeo and Juliet (where apparently the character of Uncle Monty was based on his own experiences with Zefferelli!)
In this movie, he shares the lead with Susan Penhaligon as a young couple in London, in the present-day (1970's) - learning how to live together and be all grown up and stuff. I'm sure even at the time, this concept had been done to death but this is a film of few resources- so the ramshackle nature of young life incidentally compliments the tone of the film. Like I say, it's a tale as old as time-will these two kids stick together in spite of their world and maybe this film was forgotten for because it doesn't have much to add to the formula but it's quite a light and charming watch, like a less ambitious Wed Anderson sorta thing; less stylised or comical. Incidentally it is funny how the way young people dressed in the early 70's is strikingly similar to how people dress in the early 2010's.
Susan Penhaligon is pretty good and delightful but I struggled to get past the idea that Bruce Robinson was acting well enough to necessitate him not spending that time write his future comedy masterpiece. I mean, yeah he was a cute good looking guy and passively, disarmingly charming buuuut he was no young Olivier and i have no right to say this but...  I think he did too. Hey, his best work was ahead of him. It's strange how bits of this film foreshadowed his later work like, there's a part where they go to the rural countryside, to a desolate house and they struggle to eat and kill their own food. Familiar? And then our your man goes to work in an advertising agency, pitching inane products like what's in How To Get Ahead In Advertising.
I don't usually talk about soundtracks but this film has a lovely collection of folksy songs running through it.  They date the film but in a good way; it reminds you sentiment of the time...  Private Road doesn't have much to say but it's very earnest about what it does. 
But then..  that's the youth for you...

I watched Private Road (1970) on BluRay via LoveFilm.
My 2011 in Movies will return with Rope (1948)...