Reviews (96)

Absolutely perfect.
From beginning to end, this film is a flawless gem of acting, set design, costumes, make-up, MUSIC, direction, editing, and on and on. I will admit I knew very little of Gilbert and Sullivan beyond that they were the creators of several Victorian-period operettas. Now, after having first renting the film and the purchasing the DVD, I'm totally engrossed with the lives of all of the D'Oyly Carte company of the period in the story. To single out any one performance as exceptional would be doing a disservice to the other 20 characters you'll meet in this film. It almost seems as if the historical persons themselves had taken the roles, because the portrayals are so seamless, so effortless and natural. The songs are excellent, and will have you humming them for days afterwards. My children put this film on the machine themselves to hear the musical portions again and again. Rated R for a brief, comical French brothel scene, the film is otherwise completely suitable for a family to watch, although the character development is comprehensive and might puzzle and/or make younger viewers fidgety in its length. But that development is what makes all of these delightful people come alive. Each of the characters is so finely painted that you'll feel that they're good friends of yours when the final, beautiful scene fades off the screen.

Two Movies in One...
...and that's actually not such a good thing--keeps it from getting five stars from me, and I'm sure that will break somebody's heart somewhere.

"Topsy Turvy" is an excellently put together piece, but the problem is that it is dreadfully long, so much so that I suspect it was actually a miniseries that they decided to release at a single sitting. The first half of the film depicts the two very different men who comprised the team of Gilbert and Sullivan. We see the rather trashy bon vivant lifestyle of Sullivan, living it up in a house of ill repute at one point, and this is contrasted to the stodgy household of Gilbert, who seems vaguely repressed in his marriage and has one old "w"itch of a mother. Now, there I was in the movie theatre on New Year's Day with some friends watching all this and I was doing alright for well over an hour, when suddenly I was seized with terror as the thought popped into my head: "Hey, isn't this movie supposed to be about the staging of 'The Mikado'? They're not even REMOTELY near that yet!" And so I knew that I was in for The Long Haul, a movie that seemed to last for five hours. And of course, they did a wonderful job of that whole sequence too, when they finally got round to it.

So, the thing to keep in mind with "Topsy Turvy" is this length. If you rent it, consider it a two-parter, and stop in the middle to sleep or whatever, and then come back to it the next day. Also, I think you really would have to have some appreciation for the oeuvre of Gilbert and Sullivan beforehand. Two of my friends were so into it that the film just breezed by for them, while a third woman just conked out and slept through a large part of it. "The Mikado" is one of G&S's best scores, and the singers turn in A+ performances as the original Mikado cast members--you get as caught up in their lives as with G&S's. Wonderful costuming and the traditional British eccentric acting help put the film over beautifully, provided that you've got enough grit to make it through to the credits. Rent well advised, and you'll do fine.

COLORFUL AND FREQUENTLY HILARIOUS LOOK AT MUSICAL THEATRE..
While somewhat self-indulgent in its length (over two hours!), it's a complete delight in every way. Leigh's dialogue is as witty as his direction is fluid, the music is glorious, and the performances polished from almost everyone in the ensemble.

The principal reservation I have is that those of us in the audience who may not be aficionados of G&S works will leave the theater in the dark about the themes of the compositions. Just what is "The Mikado"--a piece which lampoons British society but which distances the satire by situating the action in Japan? (P.S. The features on the DVD take care of this, so they may be worth watching prior to the movie.)

Yet, Leigh evokes a very authentic atmosphere, creates credible characterisations, and is ultimately not afraid to balance the realities behind the performances with certain matters left in the air at the end. The passion for art (whether it be Gilbert & Sullivan operettas or, you know, clay sculpture) is what burns intensely in this movie. Some may judge this film as stuffy or high-nose, but the tremendous heart of this film is almost impossible not to be carried away by.

A very unusual but satisfying treat.

ONE OF THE BEST OF THE LAST DECADE
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences might have revealed a glimmer of intelligence amid the cheap glitter had it awarded Mike Leigh and Jim Broadbent the Oscars they deserved (it won for costume design and makeup), instead of showering accolades on the excellent but far over-rated American Beauty.

The only reason I can see for other reviewers describing Topsy Turvy as a comedy is Broadbent's portrayal of Gilbert as a man of limitless wit. It is about comedy, and much of it is funny, but by the end of the film one has been touched by the humanity of its characters and the perfect period performances of G&S masterpieces.

A fine, fine movie, too subtle and witty for an audience that usually bestows its honors on the biggest noise.

An improbably great film from an unexpected source
This delightful retelling of the creation of the Gilbert and Sullivan masterpiece THE MIKADO is as improbable a product from the hands of Mike Leigh as a Hollywood shoot-'em-up would have been from Jane Campion. Leigh had made his reputation by crafting some amazingly intimate films about human relationships in films like the astonishing SECRETS AND LIES (which features in Brenda Blethyn one of the two or three greatest performances ever by an actress in any film). The idea of doing a historical recreation of Gilbert and Sullivan is not one that easily attaches itself to Leigh. Nonetheless, this film is in every sense masterful and entertaining.

With a director of the ability of Mike Leigh, it is no surprise that the film is superb as a production. Everything is superb about the film. The art direction and set design is extraordinary, and I can't imagine a historical film more compellingly done than this one. Moreover, the musical numbers are exquisitely done, and always convincing.

In the end, however, as superb as the direction and the design are, what drives this movie are the performers. This is a very fine ensemble cast, many of them Mike Leigh regulars, like the very fine Timothy Sprall, who winningly plays Richard Temple. Jim Broadbent has since the release of TOPSY-TURVY managed to establish himself as a superstar character actor through films like MOULIN ROUGE, NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, and IRIS (for which he won an Oscar). I always marvel at his range and his ability to sell any role. He is stellar here as the Stoic and emotionally conservative W. S. Gilbert. I really enjoyed Shirley Henderson (who I recently saw in a great Danish/Scottish film WILBUR WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF, which I hope will get released in the United States) in her smallish role as a musical performer who is struggling with problems of addiction (like many others in the D'Oyly Carte company). The relatively unknown (at least in the U.S.) Martin Savage stands out as George Grossmith, the person who not only starred in the Gilbert and Sullivan musicals, but was the foremost musical stage performer of the late Victorian age, sort of London's answer to Mandy Patinkin a hundred years later. Grossmith also wrote a highly popular book with his brother Weedon, THE DIARY OF A NOBODY. I could go on and on about other performers who stood out in small but impressive roles, such as Lesley Manville, who has a heartbreaking scene as Gilbert's unfulfilled and quietly unhappy wife.

It has to be emphasized that this is not a movie only for fans of light opera. It really is irrelevant whether someone does or does not enjoy Gilbert and Sullivan. This is primarily a movie about people, about show business, and about how a group of flawed and merely human beings can collaborate in producing something phenomenal. This is not a niche film. It is a film to be enjoyed by anyone who enjoyed movies at their best. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In between his breakthrough film (Life Is Sweet) and his world sensation (Secrets and Lies), filmmaker Mike Leigh created his most abrasive and daring film, Naked. This "Angry Young Man" for the 1990s follows an acidic wanderer (Cannes award winner David Thewlis) who observes a corrosive Britain. An intellectual, bitter film filtered with debauchery and black humor, Naked follows the bemusing Johnny as he crosses in and out of doorways, drifting into old acquaintances and new lost souls. It is more of a character film than sheer entertainment and thus itcan be hard to watch, but it offers one of the great performances of the 1990s. Thewlis would have been an Oscar shoo-in if he'd worn a tuxedo and repressed his emotions. He didn't, and his brilliant work went unrecognized in mainstream America. --Doug Thomas ... Read more

Reviews (33)

A film without purpose about people without purpose
British cinema likes to deal with hard topics and this has led to some remarkable films in the past. A crucial part of those successes is always the portrayal of even the most unsympathetic characters as real people with plausible flaws and redeeming characteristics.

Naked fails simply because it forgets to do this.

The film's central character, Johnny (David Thewlis) is an emotional predator. He preys on those weaker than himself for his own amusement. Intelligent, persuasive and articulate, he has little trouble doing so as long as he is with the right people.

Fearing a much deserved beating, he steals a car and flees his native Manchester and arrives at the house that his ex-girlfriend Louise (Lesley Sharp) shares with two friends. There, he has a series of misadventures in which he crosses paths with an assortment of unlikely characters.

First, there is Sophie (Katrin Cartlidge) a young woman who is attractive enough that Johnny wants to bed her and stupid enough that she thinks that it means something. Later, he encounters a security guard who invites him in to the building that he is guarding, a lonely woman seen undressing at a window who invites him in to her room, a man putting up posters in the night who invites him in to his van and a waitress in a cafe who invites him in to her house.

Not one of these characters or encounters is at all plausible. They are moving in a world where fear and suspicion are key survival traits and yet everyone the Johnny meets invites him in to their safe zone.

Thewlis does a great job with the material that he is given and almost manages to make you believe in Johnny but the task is too hard.

Watching this film is a little like watching one weeks episodes of a typical British soap opera. People move around and events take place but nothing actually happens.

Best actor ever meets best British director ever.....Good.
This does for London what "Taxi Driver" did for New York, exposing its sinister underbelly in such gruelling detail that is, at times, hard to stomach. It's possible to view this as a film about the kind of people that Robert De Niro chauffeured in the aforementioned film, themselves confused, depraved low-lifes so inherently stuck in their own meaningless lives but not so unintelligent as to not realize it. On top of which, David Thewlis creates one of the most mysterious, complex characters I have ever seen in "Johnny", the Manchester stalwart, who validates himself through cigarettes, rough sex, and the more-than-frequent smart-alec remark or insult. He nearly reduces a security guard to tears with his prophecies of the end of the world, exposing the ludicrousness of his daily life and the irrelevance of his work. Despite all of this darkness, "Naked" is somehow hilariously funny, with Thewlis' quips providing much of the humour, as well as his (possibly) girlfriend's stoned flatmate. "Naked" is a film that you will leave quivering, yet exhausted with the strangest of emotions. In that sense, it is one of the most powerful films I have ever seen.

Blistering
I love this movie. It contains one of the most blistering portrayals ever put on film. David Thewlis as Johnny gives a magnificent performance and its the best reason for seeing this movie. You can't be unmoved by him.

I'm sure after seeing Thewlis playing Professor Lupin in the third Harry Potter movie that a lot of people are wondering what else he's done.

Why isn't this movie available on DVD?!

RIP Katrin Cartlidge--Desire beyond desire
This film possesses a hypnotic pull that I am unable to resist. It demonstrates a clear argument against most human interaction. Johnny is on the run from doing something he probably shouldn't have. He leaves Manchester and heads for London, where his ex-girlfriend Louise works and lives. Their initial reunion is filled with tense silences and overt hostility. Johnny is antagonstic towards everyone and everything he sees. Yet, he does see, which is more than can be said for the rest of the characters in the film.

Clearly, Johnny is a stranger wherever he goes. He's an outsider who loathes the hypocricy he associates with the inside. It isn't that he is hopeless. Nor does he lack desire. He desires that which exists beyond the palty grasp of human desire. He has heretofore avoided being nailed to the floor with compensations for thwarted, vulgar human desire. There is no pleasure in consuming for Johnny. There is no pleasure in most things that he, or any other human, might covet.

Johnny believes in an angry, vengeful Judaic god that hates mankind. He seems to believe that humanity is a scourge on the planet. He obsesses over eschatological xtianity. He seems rather unimpressed with the basic living apparatus most civilized humans take for granted. He certainly finds it most economical to degrade women as he sees fit. Johnny is rare. His truths are scalding to those careful, complacent types who make up the world of false ideals and false hopes. He will forever be alien in their world. He will forever spit on their world. But he is human. He longs for attention, if not affection. He is capable of feeling something other than the pure balm of hate.

The performances are all stunning in this film. I particularly enjoy the late Katrin Cartlidge's turn as "wicky-wacky" Sophie. She's so wonderfully disturbed. Her bouts of hysterical gibbering, her pathetic desperation to be cared for by anyone at all--are prize winning entertainment. Cartlidge makes Sophie completely reprehensible in the end. That is quality work. Claire Skinner as Sandra is possessed with some festering inability to complete any of her sentences. She's so perturbed yet so efficient in administering medical aid. She is also excruciatingly appealing--her 5 seconds soaking in the bath are tantalizing and simply evil in their allure. As Jeremy, Greg Cruttwell creates an elitist who specializes in psychological torture. He's quite nasty and possesses no redeemable qualities. He is quite like Johnny, except he is apparantly loaded. He really likes violent sexual encounters--consensual or not. He's cool, confident, and destined to remain an enigma. It is the rare film that allows such a consummate bastard to walk away. His deeds go unpunished and poor little Sophie whines and sniffles her way to absolutely nowhere.

Then, of course, there is David Thewlis as Johnny. Quite a lot of praise has been bestowed upon his performance. He's so rabid and manic. He must speak. His mind is racing and he'll tell anyone who is listening what is in his head. Except, unlike a person who is undergoing a manic crisis, his thoughts are lucid. Nevertheless, there is nobody listening. It is sad, brutal, ugly and very much true-to-life for many individuals. Johnny represents what happens with good minds that cannot be yoked to systematic measures of untrammeled "truth". If he possessed more will he would certainly make Jeremy look like a slap-happy schoolboy with his first fisting mag.

DVD?
The finest film ever made. Yes, I mean it.

Why no DVD? ... Read more

Reviews (10)

CLASSIC SLICE OF MIDDLE-CLASS BRITISH LIFE.
Director/writer Mike Leigh's working methods are, by now, legendary. He customarily gathers his hand-chosen cast well before filming begins to flesh out characters on their own based on his outline of events and then encourages improvisation to allow the performer to inhabit the character, rather than a stock, lifeless portrayal. The actors aren't the only ones to benefit from this theatre-like approach to filmmaking; Leigh's core audiences eagerly await each entry to his already estimable canon with great anticipation. While SECRETS AND LIES is more dramatic and TOPSY TURVY more cinematic, for me LIFE IS SWEET is the most memorable of his films. Perhaps its the sweet, world-weary musical score from the wonderful Rachel Portman. Or the concentration on just a few days in the lives of a working-class British family and their small circle of friends. Not to mention the miraculous performances of Jane Horrocks as the anguished Nicola--half of a twin sister set (the sublimely droll Claire Skinner is her offset) and the triumphant, life-affirming work of Alison Steadman (Leigh's real-life spouse) as Wendy, the earth-mother with seemingly limitless patience. Since this film, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Spall, David Thewlis, and Stephen Rea have gone on to great successes in films like ENCHANTED APRIL, THE CRYING GAME, NAKED, SHOOTING THE PAST, BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, and TOPSY-TURVY, establishing themselves as invaluable players in modern cinema, whether in lead or supporting roles.

LIFE IS SWEET may seem to not "go anywhere" in modern terms, but look closely and the delightful, profoundly moving rewards will suprise you and no doubt lead to repeated viewings, even if just to enjoy Ms Steadman's infectious laugh. A must see for fans of British comedy and drama.

Vintage Leigh
Although I always enjoyed his films, I never fully appreciated Mike Leigh until I heard his commentary on All or Nothing. Since then, I think I have been able to see Leigh for what he is: An incredibly gifted storyteller. I no longer feel the need to search his movies for some overblown message or statement, but rather just allow myself to enter into the lives of the intriguing characters he presents to us, walk with them on their journey, and learn with them as they learn about themselves.

Life is Sweet is generally lighter fare than, say, his much later Secrets and Lies or All or Nothing, but it is no less compelling. The main characters are well-sketched, their humorous idiosyncracies never quite overstepping the mark into caricature (apart from some of the supporting characters, perhaps), and given enough depth and complexity to avoid the impression that Leigh is patronizing towards them (in a way that a lesser storyteller, such as Willy Russell, often appears).

Life is Sweet is very funny, very warm, but also very human and poignant, with a few moments of grittiness. The ensemble of actors, including Jim Broadbent, Alison Steadman and (a very young) Timothy Spall deliver superb performances. Rachel Portman's score veers between the playful and the melancholy, reflecting (creating?) the tone of the film.

A top 10 classic....
In the early '90s when LIFE IS SWEET was released, the film made the top 10 lists of film critics everywhere, including Siskel and Ebert, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and the San Francisco Chronicle. So why hasn't this film made it to DVD??

LIFE IS SWEET is the story of a set of twin teenage girls played by Claire Skinner and Jane Horrocks. You'll recognize Claire and Jane if you're a BBC/PBS fan. Claire played a chef-in-training on 'Chef' and a lady cop on 'Second Sight'. Jane Horrocks is LITTLE VOICE and I believe she played 'Bubbles' in 'Absolutely Fabulous'. Alison Steadman plays the mother in LIFE IS SWEET and she played Mrs. Bennett in 'Pride and Prejudice' (the most recent version with Colin Firth).

Claire and Jane play their parts so well it is hard to believe they aren't real identical twins--even though they play very different characters. The first time I saw this film I thought the same girl was playing both roles (as did Hayey Mills in the 'Parent Trap'). The supporting cast includes many familiar faces including Jim Broadbent, whom I first noticed in 'Widow's Peake' though he also starred in the Gilbert and Sullivan film Mike Leigh produced a few years ago.

LIFE IS SWEET is a story of teenage angst in an English working class family. One of the twins, Nicola (played by Jane Horrocks), has a problem with food. She starves herself when others are around and then gorges and purges in private (anorexia nervosa?). When Nicola and her boyfriend have sex she insists they do it with chocolate. Nicola dreams of taking her life beyond the narrow working-class world she inhabits. The other twin, played by Claire Skinner works as a plumber. She appears to be a practical and level-headed youngster, the kind most desired in traditional homes.

Mike Leigh's best films, including LIFE IS SWEET, are stories about working-class youngsters coming of age (SECRETS AND LIES, CAREER GIRLS, MEANTIME). These tales involve the arrival of the protagonist at a new level of awareness and personal resolution following a period of less than enthusiastic participation in a "hostile" world. In the end, Nicola finds her place in the world she inhabits and that life is sweet.

Recommended
Unlike with novelists or musicians, I don't often follow the work of particular directors. But Mike Leigh is an exception. His ability to bring out the best in actors--or his willingness to let them alone to do their best--and then form all the performances into a cohesive movie seems amazing to me. But he not only has confidence in his actors; he has confidence in his audience as well. What results are movies on a human scale, intelligent and revealing.
"Life Is Sweet," like "Secrets and Lies," is one of Leigh's more commercial efforts (as opposed to, say, "Naked"). But "Life" is much lighter and funnier. In this story, there are also family secrets, and difficulties and disappointments, but it never strays far from its title argument: that after all, life IS sweet.
Jim Broadbent (Moulin Rouge, Topsy-Turvy) and Alison Steadman (Pride and Prejudice, Abigail's Party, and Leigh's real-life wife) play Andy and Wendy, a middle-class suburban English couple. They're loving and hardworking parents, but still young enough themselves to dissolve into laughing fits on the sofa or tease each other to their horror of their daughters.
Andy produces his own minor crisis when his self-employment ambitions take the form of a ratty refreshments van, sold to him by a hilariously untrustworthy Stephen Rea. At the same time, Wendy takes on yet another part-time job when she offers to waitress at a friend's new restaurant--an episode so filled with Timothy Spall's manic efforts that it really defies words.
But the real story in "Life Is Sweet" centers around Andy and Wendy's twin daughters, in their early twenties. Natalie, played by Claire Skinner (Almost Strangers, Naked) is the calm, dry center of the family storm. It's a tribute to Skinner that Natalie remains so likeable and watchable throughout the movie, given that she rarely changes expression or inflection. But within the family dynamics, her character is absolutely understandable.
Not so much the calm center is Nicola, the other twin. Jane Horrocks (Little Voice, Absolutely Fabulous) turns in another astonishing performance as a young woman paralyzed by her own myriad and mostly nameless fears. You desparately want Nicola to reach out for help, even at the same time you find her infuriating or hilarious.
Bolstering the leads are David Thewlis, as Nicola's bizarre daytime visitor, and, as mentioned before, Timothy Spall and Stephen Rea. To measure Spall's versatility, compare his performance here with "Secrets and Lies." And Rea is always great; here he manages to be both slightly menacing and completely hapless.
With this kind of acting, and Leigh's deft hand with loving slices-of-life, there's very little to dislike about this movie.

Like spring water!
I find his movies so refreshing. The scene I remember best, oddly, is the one where the mother and her daughters bring out the patio umbrella and four cushions for the plastic chairs, unstack the chairs, set up the umbrella, then squint in the bright sun while the umbrella casts a shadow on the wall. No mainstream film would ever "waste" footage on something so unentertaining. But it is so universal that you just know you can trust the truths elsewhare in this movie. I think it's too narrow to think of Leigh's films as "about the British working class". ... Read more

Amazon.com

If a film fan had never heard of director Mike Leigh, one might explainhim as a British Woody Allen. Not that Leigh's films are whimsical or neurotic; they are tough-love examinations of British life--funny, outlandish, and biting. His films share a real immediacy with Allen's work: they feel as if they are happening now. Leigh works with actors--real actors--on ideas and language. There is no script at the start (and sometimes not at the end). Secrets and Lies involves Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), an elegant black woman wanting to learn her birth mother's identity. She will find it's Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn), who is one of the saddest creatures we've seen in film. She's also one of the most real and, ultimately, one of the most lovable. Timothy Spall is Cynthia's brother, a giant man full of love who is being slowly defeated by his fastidious wife (Phyllis Logan).

There is a great exuberance of life in Secrets & Lies, winner of the Palme D'Or and best actress (Blethyn) at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival--not Zorba-type life but the little battles fought and won every day. Leigh's honest interpretation of daily life is usually found only on the stage. Secrets & Lies is more realistic than a stage production, however, especially when Leigh shows us uninterrupted scenes. Critic David Denby states that Leigh has "made an Ingmar Bergman film without an instant of heaviness or pretension." If that sounds like your cup of tea, seeSecrets & Lies. --Doug Thomas ... Read more

Reviews (49)

Powerful emotional experience
This film is possibly the most emotionally powerful film I have ever seen. I have never cared more for a group of characters as I did for those in "Secrets and Lies." Director/writer Mike Leigh is famous for giving his actors the outlines of their characters and having them improvise most of their lines. This technique succeeds brilliantly here - you feel as if you're a part of these people's lives. All the actors turn in wonderful performances - Brenda Blethyn as the long-suffering poor single English mother, Marianne Jean Baptiste as a young black girl in search of her natural parents, Claire Rushbrook as Blethyn's rebellious daughter, and Phyllis Logan as Blethyn's well-to-do yet frustrated sister in law. At the center of it all is a monumentally understated performance by Timothy Spall, who as Blethyn's brother attempts to hold everyone's lives together as they face the pain of their ordinary existence. A truly moving film that is one of the best ever.

A triumph
A mild-mannered, intelligent young black woman (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) tracks down her birth mother, Cynthia Purley (Brenda Blethyn), who just happens to be white. That's only the central plot thread in Mike Leigh's very poignant, very funny, very smart family drama, which received well-deserved Oscar nominations for best picture, best director, best actress, best supporting actress, and best original screenplay. A keenly observed piece set in middle-class and upper middle-class England, "Secrets & Lies" offers such an abundance of riches it's hard to know where to begin.

The plot is fairly simple, though the emotions beneath it aren't. Cynthia is initially afraid to meet the child she gave up years ago, but eventually opens up and discovers that her long-lost daughter, Hortense, is not only a sweet and refined young lady, but the possible source of the love and affection she wants so badly. She receives none of that sort of attention from her other daughter, Roxanne, a bitter, sharp-tongued council worker who, like her secret half-sister, was conceived out of wedlock. Adding to the tension is Cynthia's relationship with her brother, Maurice, and his socially ambitious wife, Monica. The latter is pained by her inability to have a child, and particularly despises Cynthia, who is able to bear children but, in Monica's mind, unable to provide them with the family environment and opportunities that she can. All of these threads converge at an afternoon birthday party, during which all the pent-up secrets and lies explode like a sequence of fireworks. Emotions are laid bare, the past is revealed, and finally, the film hints, the healing process can begin.

A synopsis really doesn't do full justice to the sheer impact of this film. In fact, it's almost insulting--and irrelevant--to discuss plot at all. "Secrets & Lies" isn't about plot in the conventional sense; it's about people. Each character is a complex, fully realized human being, brought to life by superior acting. Brenda Blethyn in particular does a spectacular job, and her Cynthia emerges as one of the most hilarious, endearing, and noble human portraits I've ever seen captured on film. Marianne Jean-Baptiste has a less showy role, but she occupies it with equally genuine warmth and humility. The other performances are consistently excellent, with Timothy Spall (Maurice) and Phyllis Long (Monica), who play tortured but thoroughly sympathetic characters, among the standouts.

The actors are complimented by Leigh's superb direction. Each shot has clearly been carefully thought-out, but the camera is so unobtrusive, so casually observing, that it lends "Secrets & Lies" an almost documentary-like feel. And yet, Leigh's compassion for all his characters leaks through every frame. One of the best scenes in the film takes place in a teashop, with Cynthia and Hortense sharing a first meeting that moves from initial awkwardness to humor and hilarity, to intense sadness and finally to catharsis and relief. The scene is an unbroken, unedited single shot lasting for nearly eight minutes, and Blethyn and Jean-Baptiste sustain the dramatic tension for that long without missing a beat. It is a seamless culmination of acting, writing, and cinematography, and represents (I think) one of the most remarkable and honest shots ever committed to celluloid.

Therein lies the secret to the success of "Secrets & Lies"--every moment in the film feels real. That quality is aided by the fact that, as is the case in all of Leigh's other films, the screenplay is a collaboration between both writer/director and actors. The dialogue never sounds scripted or contrived because most of it has been improvised by the actors themselves; thus, it's no wonder that the characters all but leap off the screen, and that spending time with them is such an engaging and rewarding experience.

Some have criticized the film's overly "happy" ending, claiming that it feels a bit too pat to be real. I disagree. The conclusion, though admittedly more optimistic a resolution than most conflicted families can expect, remains utterly true to the characters' personalities and backgrounds. Actually, Leigh trumps the notion that all films attempting to illuminate the human condition must be overly bleak and pessimistic.

"Secrets & Lies" is not a fast-paced film, and at 152 minutes, it's quite long. It could have gone on for hours and hours as far as I was concerned. Mike Leigh has confirmed my long-held notion that American cinema could definitely learn a thing or two from the sure-and-steady British. Without a doubt, one of the best films, if not the best, of 1996.

touching and realistic and simply incredibly little gem
This is a little known but absolutely wonderful film that, corny as this sounds, deserves to be shared by many.A small film about a family and the small day to day trials and tribulations they go through.It's very realistic and deals with the the most average everyday things.What makes this film so amazing is how it is able to present this window into the lives of this group of people with such wit and insight, sadness and honesty; ultimately resulting in a film which is tender and uplifting and hopeful.

Tha acting is simply awesome. No other words to put it.Everyone from Brenda Blethyn to Timothy Spall to Marianna Jean Baptiste, to Claire Rushbrook, all take turns stealing scenes in performances that are so natural and on point that at times, it doesn't even feel like they're acting. This is true acting that cuts straight to the heart.The script is wonderful in that it provides so many little details that one wouldn't think to include in a movie. Just the smallest things which somehow bring the characters to life.

A wonderful film that is never going to get any acclaim because this is all about the actors.No special effects or halle berry sex scenes. No way-this is an actor's film.And they steal the show.If you have taste in REAL cinema, do not miss this gem of a movie.IT IS SIMPLY WONDERFUL.

On How Life Is
This superbly acted and written drama is certainly one of the best british movies of the 90`s, dealing with human feelings and relationhips in an unique, realistic and powerful way. Like the best british movies out there, it wisely combines drama and comedy, creating a meaningful portrayal of life.

The story focuses a young black woman`s (Marianne Jean-Baptiste)quest to find her real mother who abandoned her as a child (Brenda Blethyn). Problem is, her mother`s life is currently a mess and that new element ends up generating some problems, conflicts and tensions in the family.

Mike Leigh`s direction offers time and room for his actors to develop the characters, creating three-dimensional individuals who seem real everyday people. The scenes are very well crafted, with close attention to detail and strong, credible dialogue. The performances are all terrific and natural, and the story flows well although the pace is a bit slow at times. It`s certainly one of the most interesting movies about family ties and the need of belonging somewhere, also focusing the differences and personality flaws that keep people away from each other.

At times sad and moving, in other moments cheerful and uplifting, "Secrets & Lies" presents the necessary but at times difficult experience of family reunion in a realistic way.
A worthwile, poignant drama with much to recommend.

One Lie I Wish Filmakers Would Stop Telling
I would be dishonest if I did not compliment Leigh and his cast on such beautifully acted roles interwoven in such a sweetly told story, but why on Earth do movie makers persist in using actors who so very obviously have two black parents to portray mixed race people? Jean-Baptiste's Hortense is superbly explored and bought to life, but as a parent of mixed race children I found it difficult to suspend disbelief in being asked to accept that she had a white mother (a sentiment echoed by many in the mixed race community). A trivial criticism most of you will cry, but this type of miscasting does a disservice to reality and serves only to propagate hypodescent myths regarding mixed race people. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Side splitting laughter in a realistic setting
This movie centers around two pregnant women from each community in Belfast. As their due date approaches so does the twelfth of July. As the temperature rises, so does the tension and the laughter. Much of the rubbish in movies about Northern Ireland today is based on misery and fiction and ignorance. This movie truly portrays Belfast, the people, the humor and the tragedy. An excellent movie for those wishing to see what the atmosphere of Belfast is really like, and how the troubles affect everyday life. Having grown up in Northern Ireland before moving to the US 24 years later, I can speak from experience.

Fantastic, the only honest film I have seen about Belfast!
A triumph. Mike Leigh excells himself with this piece of mid-eighties genius. Set in Belfast, the story revolves around two families from different communities, in Belfast, over four summer days. As usual Leigh gets under the skin of his characters to give, what I believe, is the most honest portrait of Belfast and its people ever committed to celluloid. A joy from start to finish! ... Read more

Amazon.com

This simple comedy by British filmmaker Mike Leigh (Secrets and Lies) concerns the reunion of two women friends from university days who try hard, although awkwardly, to rediscover their early closeness. They succeed beautifully and experience a series of chance encounters with old friends and lovers whom they once knew together. Katrin Cartlidge (Breaking the Waves) and Lynda Steadman are outstanding, playing their characters via flashback in their grungy, early 20s as well as their more polished, contemporary selves at age 30. Following the complex ambitions of Secrets and Lies, Career Girls almost looks like a holiday for Leigh, but it is no less the rich product of his now-famous process of symbiotic rehearsal and writing. The film is also graced by some of the most delicate passages of remembered love between two people seen in a long time. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Ms. Bronte', Ms. Bronte'
Out of all of Mike Leigh's brilliant films, "Career Girls is probably my favorite.This is a wonderful character study and look at the friendship of two English women during two different periods in their lives.In the film we meet Hannah (actress Katrin Cartlidge) and Annie (actress Lynda Steadman) former college roomates, who are having their first reunion in six years. These two are a regular pair of Mutt & Jeffs. Hannah is tall, and thin with a caustic wit that is full of spit and vinegar. In contrast Annie is petite, shy and quite mousey in pesonality.As one of the characters is quoted as saying "together they would make the perfect women".During the film we listen to their converstions as they travel about London remenicing, eating and even humorously go hunting for a flat. It is during all this, that the viewer is treated to flashbacks of how these now, smartly dressed, well coiffed, 'career gals', forged and created this important friendship in their relative youth. We are shown that back in the late eighties/early nineties they were a scruffy, punky looking pair, who went through thick and thin together.The movie shows us how in their outward appearance they might have changed drastically, but on the inside they pretty much remain the same people (if not a bit more mature and cynically seasoned in nature).Actresses, Katrin Cartlidge and Lynda Steadman are marvelous in the two lead roles of this film.Both are totally believable playing these two interesting, yet imperfect women at different ages.Mike Leigh has written and directed a lovely drama/comedy, which really touches the heart as we get to know the characters(past & present). The film also has a great soundtrack that features the '80's/90's pop music of The Cure. This is a really wonderful film that will move most movie fans!

Closer to literature than film
Another brilliant film by the amazing Brit Mike Leigh . . his films go unseen by the public at large and unawarded by the A.M.P.A.S., yet they are deeper and more profound than 90% of the movies Hollywood has released in the past 10 years. This film in particular (in conjunction with "Life is Sweet") demonstrates his ability to create incredibly lifelike and original characters that both intrigue the viewer and tug at his heart. Katrin Cartlidge is terrific (at first you'll think, weird) as the unconventional, highly strung and free spirited Hannah (and was unjustly passed up for an Oscar nod by the Academy) and Lynda Steadman is charming as well as shy Annie; both women play college chums who reunite after several years. Through several chance encounters, (including a heartbreaking scene with another acquaintance, Ricky, played by Mark Benton, and a jerk who threatened to tear them apart), they discover the true strength of a friendship which had every reason to fall apart. It's reasonable to say you will never forget these characters, simple as they are; none of them are like anyone you've ever seen on the screen before (Leigh is a director who blantantly refuses to stereotype, reason enough for him to be given every honor imaginable). A small film with NO computerized special effects (HALLELUJAH!) that will touch you when you least expect it. Highly recommended.

One of the Finest Films Ever Produced
I saw Career Girls when it was released several years ago, and I am buying the video because the film has been re-playing in my brain ever since. Career Girls, like Secrets and Lies, is slice-of-life filmmaking at its very best. There is not one wasted frame in the film, and for every moment that is grim, there are two that amuse, stimulate and uplift. This film should be on the top-ten list of every intelligent film buff, or for that matter of any one who enjoys timeless works of art.

Girls Go Back To Student Past
There is something missing from this gloomy film about two 30-year-old friends who meet up again for a week-end ten years after having met. There are some very amusing, poignant and tender bits in this film but as an ensemble it lacks that bit of punch which is needed for this type of movie. Hwever it is not at all melodramatic or over-sentimental thanks to writer and director Mike Leigh's sharp observations on society and human relationships not to mention a twist of tragedy.

The characters are well-written displaying flaws and strengths which make them so human and Andy Serkis is very good as the yuppie owner of a flat the girls go to view as is Mark Benton as their former flatmate.

In regards to the lack of sparkle, I think that comes from Leigh's inclination to produce tragic dramas and this change of theme takes a bit of getting used to and is not entirely successful.

But don't worry if, like me, you love Leigh's work, you won't be disappointed as his echoes of tragedy are still sharply apparent and it is certainly entertaining.

The more times I watched this flick the more I grew to like it. And there's a funky soundtrack too.

Reaches deep into your heart.
When I saw Mike Leigh's Naked, the first time, one word, genius, never left my mind. I still think it is one of the most intelligent pieces of filmmaking I have ever seen.

About 180 degrees away in its subject matter, Career Girls affects me even more strongly. The idea that a couple of college girl-chums might get together after a few odd years, is nothing new. The film effectively puts their relationship under a microscope, in two drastically different times of maturation, the college years, and the 10 or so years after. Under that scrutiny each will blossom, brilliantly, through the short span of the film, much like a rose blooms in time-lapse photography. It's a helluva notion. Leigh accomplishes it all brilliantly.

We have all seen buddy pictures, and Career Girls is no 48 Hours, or Lethal Weapon. It's a truly sensitive look into the human soul, the human heart portraying a friendship we only imagine.

This film literally leaves me breathless. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Would've given it six stars!
I saw this film years ago and it has stuck in my mind ever since. Excellent! It's just a small group of people in a room, but it's far far more entertaining than any multi-million dollar Hollywood blockbuster.

IS IT REAL SILVER
THIS IS A GREAT SAD FUNNY FILM THAT SIMPLY MUST BE WATCHED,THE FUNNIEST CHARACTER BEING BEVERLEY DYA KNOW WHAT I MEAN? ITS FANTASTIC ACTUALLY,LITTLE TOP UP SUE?,YOUR BED ARRIVED YET ANGE?PLUMBERS OVERALLS,SHE MAKES ME DIE YA KNOW,TAKE ANOTHER SUE,SAVE ME COMING BACK,THE LINES ARE AMAZING BUT ONLY IF YOU CAN MAKE YOURSELF SIT THROUGH IT WHICH WILL BE WORTH IT AS THERE ARE SO MANY COMEDIC MOMENTS FROM THE WAY ANGELAS NECLACE MOVES WHEN SHE TALKS TO SUE GETTING UP TO DANCE WITH LAWRENCE. AN EXTREMELY CAMP AND FUNNY FILM EYEAH.

CULT MOVIE
This has to be one of the funniest films ever to be shown on british tv. I first saw this film back in the 70's, and it really made an impact on me and my friends. I now have the video, and still after all these years, my family and I get together to watch this all over again. Alison Steadman gives a wonderful performance, please keep looking out for her cutting glances. With the music of donna summer and demis russos playing all the way through this play...adds to the ambience This is definatly a cult video.....you will catch yourself repeating lines from this film ...ie: "are you allright sue" "is he always violant" etc etc.. PLEASE BUY THIS VIDEO...it will be used time and time again, in the end you will know the lines (like we do) completly off by heart......

Nasty Party Indeed
Well, what do you expect when you have someone like Beverly as your hostess? When the said bored housewife decides to hold a dinner party inviting neighbours you can bet she wants a more insidious and vicious bit of fun than a game of charads.

She dresses in low-cut tops, flirts with her neighbour's husband and does everything she possibly can to humiliate and put down her helpless guests. And you can tell she holds her prim and proper husband Laurence in contempt as well. This is very much a play/film where sub-text and interplay are essential to make it worthwhile viewing and if you don't watch stolen glances and listen to the odd remark carefully then you might miss important bits; so if you prefer more in-your-face type films then you're unlikely to like this flick. But stick with it and you'll enjoy.

So who is Abigail then? Why, the fifteen-year-old daughter of one of Beverly's guests who is having her first party and boy is Beverly going to enjoy stirring things up.

Watch out for an unexpected and dramatic ending.

Light Ale Tone?
I can't recommend this movie enough. It is so so so funny. Please watch it and I'm telling you Now! , you will become Beverly and start asking people if they want cheesy pineapples. A gem! Ok? That's it. Lovely ... Read more

Amazon.com

This early Mike Leigh film was made for British television in 1983 (released theatrically in 1985), and introduced both Gary Oldman and Tim Roth. Set in the Thatcher era, the story--typically for Leigh--is more a matter of dramatic evolution than a conventionally realized script. The action revolves around a middle-class family whose male members are all on the government dole, and whose matriarch (Marion Bailey) is long-suffering in the sight of her two sons, one a half-wit (Roth) and the other a cynical bum (Phil Daniels). Oldman plays the latter's skinhead pal, mostly a goof with no future, and Alfred Molina portrays a relative of the brothers strongly resistant to nudging their lives in a more constructive direction. The story, such as it is, is actually a series of discrete, deceptively unambitious, and highly entertaining scenes that could just as easily stand on their own as belong to some greater whole. Leigh, not quite fully baked as a filmmaker in the early 1980s, occasionally engages a rather obvious wit, such as shooting a long take in a laundry room from an angle that favors the sight of a washing machine and ignores the characters from the waist up. The remarkable actors, however, are as deeply immersed in their roles as in any of Leigh's work, and the film is ultimately as moving and funny as one expects from this unique director. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (10)

meantime
This realist picture of the british working class was orginally made just for T.V. The reason it is now realeased on video is proberbly due to its highly noteworthy cast and the fact its directed by Mike Leigh. However "Meantime" truely deseaves to be rediscoved- its a little gem! Set on a council estate in London, Leigh masterfully caputures the sights and sounds of his environment. The film centres around the unemployed Pollock family, particually sons Mark and Colin. Mark(Phil Daniels) has an attitude of frankness and nihilism, not unlike that of johney in Leighs "Naked". Colin(Tim Roth) on the other hand is slow witted, confused and vunerable to the outside world. Through-out the film we sense Marks well guarded affection for his younger brother as he trys desperatly to protect him. Like most Leigh films "Meantime" is mostly improvised, and as usual, he has a fine ensemble of actors who wont disappoint. Daniels and Roth are both equally convincing and absorbing in their roles- they even look like brothers! Gary Oldman makes his debut and theatens to steal the whole show as impish, skinhead Coxy. But perhaps the most commendable performance here belongs to Marion Bailey as the middle class aunt who attempts to put an optomistic smile on their situation(only to have her good intensions torn apart by Mark). This film may be to bleak and low-key for some viewers. There is no real story line to speak of, but it is a very pure piece of art. I'd recomend it to anyone who is willing to look beneath the surface.

Tim Roth & Gary Oldman is the best...
This movie is a great movie...to see Tim Roth and Gary Oldman when they first started out is a treat..in this movie they were kids...Roth was around 18-19 when he made this role.
I enjoyed this film a raw and gritty look at a working class family and their friends..the stand out performances are Roth and Oldman incredible.......
..i hope the distributors of Made in Britain makes this movie and the meantime/made in britain double pack availble to regional 1 folks.......

One Star for the DVD only
Don't buy this DVD. The sound is bad. The dialect in Leigh's films can be hard enough for us Yanks without having it be virtually inaudible and painfully blotted out by the music. The mix of this DVD is really bad and it spoils the movie. That said, the movie is fantastic; too bad the DVD does it such an injustice.

Don't buy this DVD.
The sound [is bad]. Leigh's characters' dialect is hard enough to understand sometimes but on this DVD the dialogue is inaudible and much softer than the music itself, which blots it out most of the time. Frustrating -- because the movie is fantastic.

A wonderful movie, an awful DVD
I'd give the movie five stars. The problem is, the DVD release from Fox Lorber is awful. There's something seriously wrong with the soundtrack; the dialog elements are drowned out by the music, and there's a synchronization problem that often leaves the left and right channel staggered by about half a second. Even more distracting, added sound effects often come from the wrong channel compared to the supposed visual source of the sound.

My guess is that instead of using a properly mixed mono soundtrack, Fox Lorber went back to the multi-channel master tapes for the mono soundtrack and used them as a fake stereo master -- but did a really bad job on the mix.

Whatever the technical explanation, it ruined my enjoyment of the movie. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Real Real People
Mike Leigh only now is becoming somewhat of a star to indy fans for his ability to depict people as they really are. His recent films, though, are a bit more Hollywoodized than his overlooked earlier ones. The characters in Home Sweet Home are so believable it's hard to believe that they're acting. None of them are the sharpest knife in the drawer, nor are they better than plain looking. In other words, they are real "real people." Which doesn't prevent them having interesting lives filled with the same sadness and joy we all feel, without the shameless slathering on and tear-jerking Hollywood can't seem to avoid. If you're looking for slice of life movies, you can't do better than this and other early Mike Leigh movies like "Nuts in May," "Four Days in July," "Hard Labor," "Grownups," and "Who's Who." ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Another excellent Mike Leigh film
This movie has gradually crept to the top of my Mike-Leigh favorites list. Overall it is a positive, sometimes funny, sometimes agonizing movie with a number of scenes and tics (the male neighbor's throat-clearing in particular) that stick in my mind. Philip Davis is a not-too-bright dishwasher married to Leslie Manville, the backbone of the marriage. The realistically-quirky people with whom they interact are Brenda Blethyn, her frequently-visiting sister who is going downhill slowly and painfully, two neighbors, and a friend of Manville. How the husband and wife deal with the strains caused by relatives and neighbors illumines the ultimate importance and strength of the nuclear family that Leigh has approached from different directions in Life is Sweet, Secrets and Lies, and even Meantime. The movie's modest scope is a large part of its offbeat charm.

Very funny, very dark
I grew up in England and can totally relate to this film. I'd recommend it to anyone who knows what it's like to 'pop round' for a cup of tea. It's another dark yet hillarious Mike Leigh movie. Don't buy this movie if you are looking for light hearted humour and a happy ending. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Deliciously witty
This brilliant satire of the British cultural obsession with hereditary titles and social status. Could only have been written by a strident socialist or republican. Set in early 80's Thatcher's Britain, the scene opens with the scores of "Another Country" as the camera looms in on neurotic Nigel ( Simon Chandler ) and bumbling Giles (Adam Norton ) both socially inept upper class former school friends now stockbrokers sharing a cramped apartment in London's West End. The real clue to how ludicrous and corrupt the class system is . Will come through the pathetic obsequiousness to ones 'betters" demonstrated in their cowering lower middle class clerical assistant "Alan Dixon" played with shocking credibility by Richard Kane. Here is a man who worships the monarchy and who's very existence is dependent on seeking approval from their disdainful eyes whilst scouring for their entries in DeBrett's peerage the aforementioned "who's who" of the title. Dixon is so smitten with monarchy and all its trappings that he keeps graphs on a wall in an upstairs bedroom. The claustrophobic terraced house he owns with his wife April (Joolia Capplemana) A dim witted impractical cat breeder. with cardboard thin walls is slyly contrasted against the stately homes of England he admires from afar

The real magic of this understated film is the way in which it makes you feel pity for Alan Dixon even whilst you are irritated by his obvious crawling to a despicable class system. Which openly sneers at him and negates his very existence. With one blow the director Mike Leigh is able to depict with scathing mockery. The nerve racked aloof ness of an upper-class dinner party in which notoriously overcooked hideous British food is greeted as if it were gourmet cuisine. In fact the total lack of style or joy in the lives of both upper-class and lower class in England is portrayed as a social comment on the legacy of the corrosive tyranny of the class system. Mike Leigh's great love of the working class comes in the form of the easy going cameraman Desmond Shakespeare (Sam Kelly) who's surname has not driven him to create a bogus lineage to his famous namesake. No one else is free to express themselves without the restricted protocol of their class. There are moments of riveting subtle observational genius such as the scene in which the office smoothie Anthony (Graham Seed) is sexually rebuffed by a British born secretary Samya (Souad Faress) who he call's a foreigner. This is a film that you will watch again and again. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

"You're a right Romeo, you are."
"Kiss of Death" is an early Mike Leigh film, and the plot revolves around the love lives of four young working class people--Trevor, Ronnie, Sandra and Linda. Trevor is an undertaker's assistant. Ronnie is Trevor's friend--possibly his only friend. Ronnie is going out with Sandra, a bossy strait-laced girl who'd rather not have Trevor tagging along every evening. Sandra introduces Trevor to a casual acquaintance, the gum-chewing, slack-mouthed Linda. Sandra hopes that Trevor will be attracted to Linda, and that with a girlfriend of his own, she'll have free access to Ronnie.

Mike Leigh films usually depict the lives of the British working class, and "Kiss of Death" does contain characters whose dialect may be difficult for an American audience. Some Mike Leigh films are depressingly bleak--"Kiss of Death" is not bleak, but neither did I find it particularly hilarious. Basically, the four main characters are rather gormless. Poor Ronnie hardly ever murmurs a word, and when he does it's almost in a whisper. His girlfriend, Sandra is unpleasant, prickly, and domineering, and we really get a jolly good idea of her at, let's say, age 40, and it's a frightening thought. Linda is a bit more fun. All she wants is a boyfriend, and she's not too interested in preliminaries. Trevor is shy, and he copes with Sandra's bossiness and Linda's advances simply by giggling at them. He quickly learns that a quick giggle undermines the girls' confidence. It's clear that Trevor is a cut above the other three characters; he's constantly reading (a habit which seems to threaten Sandra), and he can take control (as evidenced when Linda's neighbour collapses). Even though "Kiss of Death" centres around the love lives of two couples, this is almost an anti-dating film. There's no romance--even the marriage-minded females can't be bothered to flog a dead horse. The main problem with the film (hence the four-star rating) is that all four characters are utterly unappealing, and this is a problem. When I watched the film, I was reminded of an interview with Johnny Rotten. When asked about the song, "No Future" he said that the only thing teenagers had to look forward to in 1970s Britain was marriage. I recalled that comment, and it's no coincidence that the film was made in the year that the Pistols reached the pinnacle of their short-lived success. Leigh fans should enjoy "Kiss of Death", but it does not match the quality of some of his later films--displacedhuman ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Ebert's review of U.S.premiere
The first American review of "Bleak Moments," written in November 1972 by Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times:

There is a new kind of movie emerging in the 1970s that considers, with almost frightening perceptiveness, the ways people really behave toward each other. These new movies--with their attention to the smallest nuances of human behavior--are scary because they tell us so much about ourselves. They're interested in the ways that body language and the territorial imperative operate in human relationships. Most of us don't walk into a saloon like John Wayne or drink a beer like Karen Black, but we do have a set of personal responses and cues that let other people know how to react to us. We have the cues, and we read the cues of others. Until last week, I had only seen one movie that I felt was completely successful in this new way of telling a story: Eric Rohmer's "My Night at Maud's." That was a film in which a personal drama was told, not in words, but in the ways the characters acted toward each other. Many of their words in fact, were an evasion of the situation--but Rohmer was able to give us the words to show the evasion. Now comes Mike Leigh's "Bleak Moments." It is a first film by a young British director who exhibits in every scene a complete mastery of the kind of characterization he is attempting. The film is not entertaining in any conventional way. This is not to say for a moment that it is boring or difficult to watch; on the contrary, it deals so basically with the pain and utter frustration of life that it is impossible not to watch. Its greatness is not just in direction or subject, but in the complete singularity of the performances. There have never been performances just like this before in the movies; Annie Raitt and Eric Allan have scenes together that are so good, and painful, you find yourself afraid to breathe for fear they will step wrong. They never do. The movie is about Sylvia, a woman who works in an office and comes home at night to care for her sister, who is 29 years old and mentally retarded. Sylvia is a beautiful woman in an austere, grey-eyed, level and quiet way. She projects intelligence and a cynical amusement about her life and fate; Leigh is good at painting his characters with short, perfectly-sculpted scenes, and we feel we know Sylvia after a scene in which she sits in a mussy room, drinks cream sherry and pages through a book. She isn't an alcoholic; it's just that one might as well drink some sherry in the evening if one is going to feel bloody awful otherwise. Into Sylvia's life one week come two men. One is a teacher she knows slightly. He asks her out to dinner on a Saturday, and she accepts. The other is a painfully inarticulate hippie, totally awash in his own feelings of self-worthlessness, who comes to run the mimeograph machine after Sylvia's garage is rented by an underground magazine. Sylvia is the kind of woman, we sense, who has deep wells of humor, of intelligence, of generous and demanding erotic needs. She is not a spinster; she is a captive. The teacher, Peter (played by Eric Allan) has needs too, and they are as desperate as he is incapable of fulfilling them. In a situation of authority, he can cope through habit and an acquired manner; at Sylvia's house, he puts down the hippie by treating him as the failed schoolboy he (in fact) happens to be. But Peter cannot cope with women, or anything else that offers a challenge. He clearly feels Sylvia is above him, and he is paralyzed by shyness when he is around her. He can hardly speak. He phrases his words so painfully and doubles back so often in his sentences that what comes out is a kind of apologetic gibberish. And what is Sylvia to do? As played by Anne Raitt, she is a person who has come to contain her passions within a reserved manner. On their dinner date, they have a painful and (for Peter) humiliating experience with a rude Chinese waiter. This scene, like many in the film, has a great deal of buried humor: We want to cry, and laugh. Then they go back to her apartment, and sit, and sit, and Sylvia drinks sherry and tries to tempt Peter to unwind a little. He never quite does. This scene in Sylvia's living room, which runs for quite a long time, is the best thing in its line since the celebrated bedroom scene in "My Night at Maud's." Sylvia clearly wants Peter do something, but he cannot. God, does he want to! She sits on her couch and subtly uses her body and her face and voice to try to lure him across the room by erotic magnetism, but he will not respond. The scene is one of the sexiest I can remember; sometimes the repression of passion is more erotic that its immediate fulfillment. What's going on in that room between those two people is as charged with desire--and the anger that frustrated desire can turn into--as anything in the labyrinthine sexual evasion of characters by Henry James. And then there is a moment: Peter has finally taken a sip from his glass, and Sylvia crosses the room to refill it. But he wants no more. No matter; she fills it to the very brim, and looks down at him. "Well, what are you going to do about it?" she says (for now he will have to drink it or spill it). "Hold it as steadily as I can," he says. The buried mutual aggression in this scene is as violent in its way as the farthest reaches of Peckinpah. Anne Raitt's performance is one of the best I have ever seen. Her role is so tremendously difficult. She has got to let us know everything about her without ever once losing control. Her surface remains unbroken; her manner is most often impassive, or conventionally polite or kind. But we are somehow inside her mind, understanding how she feels about her sister, her friends, her fate. Sylvia's magnificent personality is trapped inside that desperate life, and Anne Raitt achieves one of the most difficult things an actress can do in convincing us of that fact without ever seeming to try to. This film is a masterpiece, plain and simple, and that is a statement I doubt I will ever have cause to revise. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Shockingly bleak brilliance from Mike Leigh
A classic BBC Play For Today from the days when televsion still provided a forum for this sort of comment, one that directly screamed at its audience in defiance. Hard Labour is chiefly noticeable for an excellent cast and several superbly staged scenes. Clifford Kershaw turns in a very different performance to his usual lonely old man role. Two of the finest scenes are the love scene and the clocking on at work. The "Love scene" is really anything but, as Jim returns drunk and unbearably loudly undresses while his wife sleeps. Then he forcefully has sex with her. Leigh's brilliance comes in keeping the camera away from the evets, lingering almost asleep on the pillow so we feel powerless to stop the horrible events. Another fine scene is where Jim arrives to his nightshift and talks to his supervisor, a scene that goes through numerous subtle psychological changes. Also of note is Louis Raynes fine turn as the tallyman and one of the plays more klikeable characters in the form of Ben Kingsley. One excellent feature of this play is that it could be set anytime in the last 100 years. It is 1973 but for a long time early on could be almost Victorian so horrendous are the lifestyles. Producer Tony Garnett commented in the Radio Times before broadcast "If you are not shocked by this play, you have already been brainwashed." Bring back Play For Today!!! ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Hilarious - way ahead of it's time
The subtle humour of the dialog and awkward situations in this mostly uneventful film set on a camp-site can only be appreciated by a particular sense of humour. It takes a while to really get going but it'll have you cringing and laughing all at the same time pretty much from the 'Going to the zoo' song onwards. You'll either find this very funny, or you just won't get it at all - which might be scary becuase you might be just like one of these people if that's the case!

I can see where the League of Gentelmen got 'The Dentons' from in their BBC series now - which I'd thoroughly recommend if you like this kind of humour.

You will either love it or hate it!
Pure Brilliant. The are not words that can describe how superb this is. Its just so funny in a way that only certain people can really appreciate its comic genious. Its just so good in that it is all improvised with no script or anything. It must take some talent to be able to make a whole film in that way and still keep it good and in this case it was not good but brilliant. Even the names of the characters are funny. The fight seen is a must see, just how did they keep a straight face? And the strange thing to think about is that there are people actually like this out there somewhere and going through that same things. There will never me an improvised follow up to thins that is as good. But the one thing to remember is that you will either love it or hate it!

one of his best
people know mike leigh more for his recent dramatic efforts, namely secrets and lies, and naked.however his early films are the true jewels in the crown of the director.films such as grown ups,home sweet home, and meantime are all classics.nuts in may, however, is the funniest.perhaps it is the protaganist, keiths, absurd need for total dominance over any situation which makes it so hysterical.certainly the performance by roger sloman is incredible, i dont know why he wasnt in more films.as we slowly see him lose control, as the campsite he and his wife visit slowly has its peace disturbed by increasing numbers of fellow campers, the film reaches higher and higher levels of torturous embarrasment-and the viewer is embarrased for keith who is like an alien amongst the people he is surrounded by.as one earlier reviewer noted, not everyone will get this movie, as it relies on subtle character insights to make us laugh.however, the people i have shown this film to who did get it, mark it as one of their all time favorites.definitely try it.

Bald as a baby's bum, Keith...
I first saw Nuts in May when it was screened by the Beeb in 1975.I almost died from laughing so much. Now I have it on video and reach for it at moments when I need reminding about the essential absurdities of day-to-day life. Mike Leigh is an absolute genius and his powers of observation spot-on. Alison Steadman as Candice Marie was never better, giving a performance that surpassed even her role as the Essex girl from hell in Abigail's Party. As for Roger Sloman, whatever happened to this brilliant actor? He deserved a knighthood at the very least.

Comic masterpiece
Low-key character-dependent comedy rises to a pitch of hysteria, as in all the best of Leigh's work. And the pitch, as always, is a mixture of humor and desperation, pulled off by actors who seem genuinely out of control. This is one of my favorite comedies; I can watch it time and again. But I do find myself showing it to people who simply stare and go, uh...? ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Liegh Wins Again
Granted, this movie is not for all tastes. It's virtually unrelenting look at the struggling working class of Britain can be bleak and troubling. However, for those who frequent the local art house, and those who have found themselves drawn to the previous work of Mike Leigh it is a must.

Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville are a common-law couple who work as a taxi drive and a grocery store checker respectively. They are raising two teenagers, a shy, bookish daughter who works as a janitor of a nursing home and a son who does little but verbally abuse his mother while he sits in front of the TV. Plot here is not the emphasis. Slice of life is.

Bleak as this scenario sounds (and it only scratches the surface) this is a film that rewards the patient viewer as the ending does offer a healthy dose of redemption. Along the way the acting shines (typical for Leigh films) with Spall, Manville, and Ruth Sheen as the friend and neighbor dealing with a pregnant teen age daughter turning in award worthy performances.

Leigh, The Lady Godiva of British Film Direction
Darling of the British movie elite, Mike Leigh indulgently delves yet again into his peculiar facination with a largely ficticious and fanciful working class, more Dickensian than it is contemporary. Ugly, uncouth, incoherent and nihilistic, 'All or Nothing' is an often cumbersomely self-conscious piece of drivel, offset only by one or two touching scenes between Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville. The film leaves this viewer wondering if Leigh has actually ever met people from the English working class, since the films characters are such appalingly carricatured Fag Ash Lil and Andy Capp types. Infantile and disciplinary impotent adults vie with teenagers whose script consists largely of "fak orf" whenever their parents address them. Certain scenes appear as random flights of fancy offering no insight or even evident connection with the plot (such as it is). Taxi driver Phil (Spall) drives off to the beach after switching his radio off. Standing balefully looking out to sea we are unsure whether he is contemplating suicide or lamenting the one that got away on his last fishing trip. Next cut to Phil driving back home. Huh?
'All or Nothing' may appear to be the stuff of "gritty realism" to Leigh and the cosy arthouse world he inhabits, but in truth it indicates just how