Boy and Bicycle

Ridley Scott's first film features his younger brother, the late Tony Scott, as a schoolboy playing truant for the day to meander around Hartlepool on his bicycle, lost in his own thoughts.

Ridley Scott’s first film – featuring his younger brother, the late Tony Scott, as a schoolboy playing truant for the day to meander around Hartlepool on his bicycle – is a far cry from the director’s Hollywood blockbusters, a lyrical and highly personal evocation of the early sixties North East.

Taking inspiration from James Joyce’s Ulysses, Scott employs a stream of consciousness that reveals the everyday thoughts and frustrations of the teenage schoolboy. Scott shot in black and white on a Bolex 16mm cine-camera while studying photography at the Royal College of Art in London in 1962. In post-production, Scott was able to secure a score from John Barry, with the composer recording an original piece after being impressed with the young filmmaker’s work.