Sunday Bloody Sunday: With an Introductory Essay Written Specially for This Edition

by Penelope Gilliatt

Hardcover edition of the screenplay. 1986, Dodd Mead, 151 pages.

Genres: Film, Drama

151 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Brilliant English short story writer, novelist, critic and screenwriter, Penelope Gilliatt came to represent some of the best of the second generation writing at the New Yorker magazine.

Reviews

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 2 out of 5]

Last month, in my review of Andre Gide's The Immoralist, a friend commented: "One of these days I would like to read a book that doesn't portray bisexuals as immoral, confused, or promiscuous."

Nancy, I found it. This is that book.

This is actually a screenplay of an award-winning movie that was shown in 1971.

That year, Sunday Bloody Sunday was nominated for every major award in both the U.K. and U.S, and won several, including – among others – the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards for best picture, director, actress (Glenda Jackson), actor (Peter Finch) and editing (Richard Marden), while screenwriter Penelope Gilliatt took both the Writers Guild of America, USA and the Writers' Guild of Great Britain awards for best original screenplay.

The story covers ten pivotal days in a complicated three-person relationship. Dr. Daniel Hirsh, a fiftyish doctor, and Alex Greville, a thirtyish corporate job counselor, are both deeply in love with a rising young artist named Bob Elkin. Bob professes to love both of them – and everyone involved knows the scope of the arrangement – although he moves freely between them. Daniel and Alex must each grapple with the situation, he to come fully to terms with being gay, and she to face her fear of being alone. This brief period is also a possible turning point in Bob's life, as he lands a major commission for his art but which requires him to go to the U.S.

What I like about the story is the fact that it does not give an issue on homosexuality. It neither advocates nor condemns it. It just presents to the reader that homosexual love is like any other love between two human beings. The way Penelope Gilliatt captured this in her screenplay felt to me like I was reading about a love triangle story that is an unorthodox yet deeply compassionate, neither clinical nor judgmental - and one that invites us to view it through our personal perspective.

I love reading screenplays. Short and it requires more visualizations compared to reading novels. The scriptwriter succinctly puts the setting but it is up to the reader to imagine it: the people, how they look, the surroundings, the things in it. Novelists normally describe his milieus but scriptwriters do not have that space.

Also, I feel like a movie director. I have to do the visualizations myself!

[Brandon]

"I've had this business that anything is better than nothing. There are times when nothing has to be better than anything."

[James Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still remember when the film version directed by John Schlesinger came out. I was in my Senior year at the University of Wisconsin and I purchased and read the screenplay immediately. The unique approach of Gilliatt made this story more than just an atypical menage a trois. Each of the main characters were developed with details that made their stories interesting and relevant to the reader ( and the viewer of the film). A Jewish doctor, Daniel Hirsh and a young woman, Alex Greville are both involved in a love triangle with contemporary sculptor Bob Elkin. Not only are Hirsh and Greville aware that Elkin is seeing the other but they know one another through mutual friends. Despite this, they are willing to put up with the situation through fear of losing Elkin, who switches freely between them.
The result is an example of great drama, directing and acting all coming together to make a classic film. The screenplay is worth reading and rereading.

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sunday Bloody Sunday written by Penelope Gilliatt, John Schlesinger, and directed by the latter had four major Academy Nominations in 1972, for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Peter Finch, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Glenda Jackson, Best Director for John Schlesinger and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced for Penelope Gilliatt, this is also one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made…you find a multitude of notes on films from the NYT 1,000 and other pages, plus reviews on books from the GOAT and other sites on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... see there soon, I hope


8 out of 10

John Schlesinger is the ‘auteur’ of one of the best films ever made – if we take the notion of director as auteur seriously, and apart from Sunday Bloody Sunday – Midnight Cowboy https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... a film that shocked in 1970 for its audacity

Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman were wonderful in Midnight Cowboy, alas, I reject Voigt for his support of the Orange Caligula, funny how conservatives were outraged because the Oscar for Best Picture, Director went to a movie that had a homosexual at the center (Hoffman), Schlesinger was gay, and we have this side in Sunday Bloody Sunday
Let me start with the good things, Peter Finch is remarkable, he was nominated for the Oscar for his performance as Daniel Hirsh, a gay Jewish doctor – the director was Jewish and homosexual, we could assume he identifies with his main character – and he won the top prize for his outstanding Howard Beale in The Network

The Network https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... is another masterpiece, and Peter Finch has a fantastic presence as a mad prophet of the mass media, I understand the thespian was a well-known womanizer and heavy drinker, perhaps as much as Peter O’Toole say
Alas, we have an actor that I di not like, Glenda Jackson, she is Alex Greville in Sunday Bloody Sunday, mother of, I don’t know, four, maybe five children, she has a dog (who is killed by a truck, it could have been one of her daughters) and a…monkey, which seems crazy, how can you juggle with all these in the same house?

I have two macaws and they are often more than we can handle, anyway, she has this lover, she is divorced, Bob Elkin, who is shared between the woman and…the doctor, which is ‘sophisticated’, maybe even Avangard for 1971, when the movie was presented in cinemas…admittedly, Alex has sex with another man
Only this seems to be a ‘one night stand’, though it takes place at daytime (I think, I am not sure, now that I brought this to my attention) and Bob comes while the other man is in bed with Alex, they all talk – a naughty idea penetrates my puritanical character, no I am not, closer to being a pervert, than a moralist

They could have thought of a threesome, seeing as they were so open minded – this is a character strength according to Martin Seligman https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... - what with sharing this bisexual partner, this could be for another motion picture, coming to a theater near you

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – I am on Goodreads as Realini Ionescu, at least for the moment, if I keep on expressing my views on Orange Woland aka TACO, it may be a short-lived presence
Also, maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the benefits from it, other than the exercise per se

There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

[Richard Jespers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rather daring for its time period, the script is probably a little dated now. I saw the film once, but after reading the script and getting a clearer idea of the writer’s intent, I would like to see it again—script in hand. Not many films were dealing with closeted homosexuals back then (under the guise of bisexuality), but this one about a male/female couple having an affair with the same young man (though not at the same times nor the same beds), is worth the time, if for no other reason than viewing British cultural history through a little window of time.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couple of things to let you know first. I read this as part of a reading challenge for the year. It was randomly picked based on a title with a day of the week or month in the title. I confess to being pleased with a title called Sunday Bloody Sunday. You see, I kind of have a thing for Irish history and I thought it was going to have something to do with what went down in Derry. Also, I thought it was a book. It wasn't about Ireland at all and it was actually a screenplay.

I tried to write a screenplay once. Script Frenzy. Anyway...I couldn't pull it off. I can't think in the right way to make it work. Turns out I can't read it that way either. I was in school plays. I could remember lines and where I needed to be on stage, but reading this was difficult for me.

Can I review this fairly then? I don't know. Maybe not. Short version. A woman. A man. Another man. The woman and the man are both involved with the other man. Everyone knows about what's going on. The woman seems to love him. The other man seems to love him. Both are willing to take whatever the guy in the middle is willing to give them. I think he cares for them both but he's ego-centric. He does what is the best and perhaps what is easiest for him.

This movie came out in the early 70's. It was a much different world so I think given that, the sexuality was handled well. It didn't seem judgmental. It was just a slice of life for the 3 people in a little over a week, but at a pivotal time.

[Esther · Rating 3 out of 5]

No cover on Goodreads unfortunately, so you can't see circa 1970 Glenda Jackson in all her fierce beauty. This is the screenplay for the film with an introduction by Gilliatt on the experience of writing this and working with director John Schlesinger. Its a classic film of its era and coming across this curio in a secondhand bookshop was a delight. Great on set photos as well.

[Aijah Downer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s peculiar script with some gem-like take aways. A queer tale that gives insight to casual dating, bisexuality, and relationships. There’s an opportunity to also read along with the film for a more immersive experience.

[Srutu Tu · Rating 3 out of 5]

nawet nawet, imo 7/6 na 10

[Annabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in one sitting, while sitting at my library one Sunday, post-lunch (it took about an hour, perhaps an hour and a half). I'd already seen the movie, of course. This book is a script of the same. My reaction to the book is pretty much the same as when watching the movie: Londoners are an altogether different breed.