Hacker Cinema
The Finishing Line
1977 · Film · short · 21 min
Directed by John Krish
When a schoolboy's day-dream of a fantasy sports day includes events where acts of vandalism and trespass are required, dire consequences ensue. Originally created as an educational film, this somewhat surrealist short has a serious message at its core. This won't be a lesson you'll forget in a hurry.
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6 comments on Hacker News
We just take it for granted here in the UK. The number of people who die accidentally on the tracks each year is very low, and much lower than those who choose to commit suicide that way.
There's a strong "stay away from train tracks" education whilst growing up.
Those who grew up in the 70s/80s had the benefit of some utterly horrific public information safety films such as https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-the-finishing-line-1977-online (well, that one was never used in the end, but it sets the tone...)
More horror here: https://artofthemovies.co.uk/blogs/original-movie-posters/scarred-for-life-british-public-information-films
> I finally discovered that I hadn’t imagined it—it’s a 1977 public information film called “The Finishing Line,” which was made to deter children from playing near railway lines. The film was screened at my junior school
https://youtube.com/watch?v=SXGqwCbeFD8
This terrified me for decades after seeing on tea-time TV: http://www.weirdretro.org.uk/the-finishing-line-the-banned-public-information-film.html
I have vivid memories of watching Apache and The Finishing Line when I was in primary school (under 12 years old) over 40 years ago. I'm still terrified of farm machinery and railway lines.
After the end of the The Finishing Line, where the bodies of dead children are carried out of a railway tunnel I remember the railway safety officer who had presented the film telling us that the ending wasn't realistic - usually bodies hit by trains are carried out in pieces in bags because the damage is too bad.
Oh, that's interesting. I recall seeing Robbie at school (at least once, possibly all three version) but hadn't heard of The Finishing Line. You can stream it online for free from the BFI now, I'll be giving this a watch: https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-the-finishing-line-1977-online
At about age 6 I saw something even worse [0] - and because it was so disturbing that it was never shown again, I spent decades thinking I'd dreamt or imagined the whole thing, regularly asking new people I met if they remembered it. Threads and Salo have nothing on The Finishing Line.
edit: corrected my age
[0] http://www.weirdretro.org.uk/the-finishing-line-the-banned-public-information-film.html