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Stranded and dispossessed in a life deprived of family or community bonds, the characters in Mike Leigh’s grungy, fiercely unflinching “Naked” are left to corrode in their own self-destructive paths. None more so than Johnny, a pernicious drifter who actively plays off the depressing reality around him, basking in his own nihilism and mordant sense of superiority. The world is a useless wasteland to him, and he doesn’t mind tearing it down as he goes. As played by David Thewlis in a transfixing performance, Johnny is a fascinating character to study. He does horrible things, chooses to make situations worse than they need to be, and seems to thrive off of his own noxious, harmful offenses. Yet the portrait that is sketched is not one of complete remorselessness, but one that recognizes slivers of humanity in an individual who has otherwise been irreparably damaged. In one scene, a man puts up posters that read “THERAPY?” in large font right next to him. Nobody seems to notice, or care.

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Throughout the course of the film we follow Johnny on his travels through life and through future. David Thewlis’ highly praised performance as the protagonist is undoubtely the finest performance in recent years.

His conviction is portrayed through this philosophical, intelligent and gruesome character that the film is based around. Mike Leigh’s 1993 venture is a disturbing film to watch with 3 sexual scenes before we reach the twenty minutes, but despite that is a beautiful film to watch.

The screenplay featured was apparently mostly made up on the spot, but it doesn’t show. This film is a progressive piece of art that I expect will require multiple viewings for every little detail to be taken in as it was intended to.

Despite all that, I would have a strong mind to say this isn’t a film. It’s a commentary on life that for the whole duration we feel as we are Johnny’s guide. This is a piece of miraculous paced out and flawlessly executed through these strong performances, and Mike Leigh’s razor-sharp direction. A really absorbing picture.

A modern masterpiece. English film-making at it’s very best.

the reason of why i rented this film in the first place was because the name of mike leigh was on the cover. and what do i get from this mike leigh’s film? a magnificent and powerful journey from start to finish by a smart idealist named johnny, which was played by the ever spectacular david thewlis.

it was clear that the acting in this film was based on many improvisations and those improvisations gave the film a more gritty and realistic look than it already has. the direction from mike leigh and the simple scoring added some dramatic and suspense feelings for the film. the ending of the film was also really spot on. it really explained what kind of world we’re living in and our struggle at keeping it simple and happy.

in short, this film is much more than an experience. this film will suck any audience to every frame of the film. the audience will feel like they’re in the film. they will be a character in the film. it will even give them knowledge about almost everything; from prophecies to philosophies, from mythologies to real life stories, from religions to straight nihilism. yes, that is how perfect this film is. i added this film to my best-film-of-all-time-list as soon as the credit started rolling.

Perhaps the most successful demonstration of Leigh’s extensive exploratory writing style, Naked is easily the masterpiece of the Mancunian’s canon. Leigh’s confidence in Thewlis, instilled by their earlier collaboration in Life is Sweet, was not misplaced. He delivers a performance that even now, sixteen years on, is a career highlight. The fact that Johnny was devised entirely (like all of Leigh’s characters) through improvisation is both astonishing and a little disturbing.

While Thewlis is superb, his excellence is certainly not alone. The late Katrin Cartlidge is fantastic as the searchingly self destructive Sophie and Claire Skinner gives a short but memorable performance as the wonderfully neurotic Sandra. It’s easy to be drawn in by the depth of character in Leigh’s work and forget how good his eye is but Naked does boast some of his most striking camerawork – most notably the iconic final steadicam shot that follows Thewlis down Shacklewell Lane. It’s a one of the most important British films of the 90s, as fresh and biting a diatribe on life in the UK as it was on its release – Naked is Leigh at his very best.