Up The Junction- film response

This 1968 film, tells the story of Polly; a young girl from Chelsea who gets a job in Battersea, and her attempts at working life. It tells us a lot about the nature of working class London during the period of 'Swinging Britain' and breaks many myths about the period. It stars Suzy Kendall and Dennis Waterman.

I enjoyed this film, as I thought it had fun likeable characters, whilst also depicting the reality of 60s. Polly is a strong female protagonist, who has clear views on the issues which are visited. I found her character refreshing for the era; especially after the derogatory portayal of women in the film Alfie. Suzy Kendall shows Polly to be independent, hard-working and a loyal friend; traits that I think are important for women to see, and especially would've been so in that era.

The main male protagonist, Peter, played by Dennis Waterman is the polar opposite. He is a character from a working- class background, who dreams of the high life. Although his character turns out to not be as great as we first think, I love Waterman's portrayal. We are really given the sense of a young man who is ambitious beyond understanding. He knows exactly what he wants from life (seen in the scene where he tells Polly his dreams when they are at his place).

The minor characters, Sylvia and Ruby, are also strong independent women. Sylvia is a women who has been married but has had a divorce, something which was a taboo subject for a long time. She has lots of life and is fun- loving. Ruby is a 17 year old girl who lives a very similar life to her older sister. She gets pregnant and decides to have an abortion. The scene in which they do this is beautifully executed, because in showing less they have increased the poignancy.

I thought that overall, all the controversial subjects of the film werre dealt with very well. As I said, I think that the abortion scene and the scenes following it, and some of the most memorable of the film, and also some of the most heartbreaking. However, this is a good thing as it is a reminder of the consequence of illegal abortions, and highlights the desperation young women were to have the abortion act passed. Divorce is also mentioned but not dwelled on. The film shows women in a positive light, which also would've been a risk at the time, as it was a patriarchal society.

The one thing I didn't like about this film was the ambigious ending. We are left hanging with absolutely no resolve, and this frustrated me. Although I think it shows a brutal but true message (we always resolve to our ascribed status if we giveup trying to escape it), I wish there would've been something more so that we had closure in the character's stories/lives.