A TASTE OF HONEY is a well-remembered slice of life film from Britain, based on a play. It's one of the most well-regarded of the new wave of kitchen sink films but I found it somewhat lacking in comparison to other, similar fare like POOR COW. The scope of the film is somewhat constrained given that the majority of the scenes take place in a single location and involve similar conversations between the same characters.
The memorable Rita Tushingham gives a fine central performance as the lead character whose unremarkable life has been made a misery by the presence of her overbearing mother (Dora Bryan at her most unbearable). She finds herself in a controversial-for-the-time relationship with a black sailor and when that doesn't work out she seeks solace with a gay friend. Unfortunately, as with LOOK BACK IN ANGER, what this all boils down to is cast members being horrible to each other, a lot of shouting and arguing, and not much else. I thought more could have been made of the situation and more incident could have taken place to move the story along. There's no sense of drive or momentum that the best films have and given that Tushingham does nothing to escape her situation she isn't a very sympathetic heroine.
The memorable Rita Tushingham gives a fine central performance as the lead character whose unremarkable life has been made a misery by the presence of her overbearing mother (Dora Bryan at her most unbearable). She finds herself in a controversial-for-the-time relationship with a black sailor and when that doesn't work out she seeks solace with a gay friend. Unfortunately, as with LOOK BACK IN ANGER, what this all boils down to is cast members being horrible to each other, a lot of shouting and arguing, and not much else. I thought more could have been made of the situation and more incident could have taken place to move the story along. There's no sense of drive or momentum that the best films have and given that Tushingham does nothing to escape her situation she isn't a very sympathetic heroine.