Um. Mike Leigh is contemptuous. BUT IS FILM TECHNIQUE (Dialogue, performance, Camera, choice of point of view, characterization) is impeccable.
He is from upper middle class. Goes in… makes a critical success of doing basically what Catherine Tate does with better character development, cinematography and a dismal existential dilemma that never moves past itself….. So does that matter? I’m not sure.
Do his films offer us something? What about HIGH HOPES, ABIGAILS PARTY or SECRETS AND LIES?
There was a bit of tension in HAPPY GO LUCKY — Thank God… He was almost parodying himself in the drivers teacher. I felt sorry for the poor bugger. But he still couldn’t help but paint our protagonist in her final scenes as someone without any purpose or gravity for living. Someone who didn’t have time for the likes of poor Mike.
I understand its hard being depressed. But I wish he made films about boring upper middle class existentially and physically depressed men like him….than with his troupe of well paid actors - pillage the soap opera and real economic struggles of the working class for his stories. Give me FISHTANK and ANDREA ARNOLD any day. Even though they feel somewhat full of their own social/artistic importance.
Ben Hackworth
i also LOOOOVEVVEED CHLOE! Maybe for the wrong reasons… time will tell.