Distinct from the British New Wave is the 'swinging London film cycle' which really kicked off in 1965 and contains some fine films.
This is a weekend in the lives of a bunch of big-haired Kensington girls, yah, when it was apparently possible to live in Kensington and be penniless. It could easily be the story of the young Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous.
Francesca Annis is the new arrival, quickly getting hit on by Ian McShane. The scenarios are predictable enough: all night parties, stumbling home at dawn, discovering someone is gay, feckless boyfriends, even one of those "there's something I have to tell you, Vic" scenes.
It's basically domestic - with tea-making detail and shouting to the milkman out of the window - but vibrant enough, and with a lot of smart repartee. To add a bit of maturity there's a quaint sub-gangland subplot with Klaus Kinski (sounding like Peter Lorre) as their hard-but-not-all-bad landlord getting his comeuppance.
It's melancholy in places but never dour and it works well as the story of a mildly wild weekend in swinging London - and the sight of Ian McShane's dancing technique may never leave you.
