Film Details
A blend of kitchen-sink realism, dark comedy and 1960s British New Wave aesthetics, the film follows Billy Fisher (Tom Courtenay), a bored and irresponsible young man living with his nagging working-class family in Northern England. Despising his dead-end job as a funeral parlor bookkeeper and drowning in his own web of romantic entanglements - having secretly proposed to two different women simultaneously - Billy spends much of his time mentally retreating to "Ambrosia," an imaginary country where he is a heroic military ruler. When his former girlfriend Liz (Julie Christie) - a happy-go-lucky, free spirit - suddenly returns to town, she offers him a chance to leave his problems behind and start a fresh life in London. However, as the pressures from his family, his boss and his furious fiancées reach a tipping point, Billy must decide whether to embrace the frightening reality of a new beginning or remain trapped in his endless fantasies.
Director: John Schlesinger
Cast: Tom Courtenay, Julie Christie, Wilfred Pickles
Certificate: PG
Running Time: 94 minutes