Have you met Mike Leigh?
by Bruce Cantwell
I feel a little silly writing about Mike Leigh as if he were an up-and-comer. He's not exactly a spring chicken.
If you've seen any of his work, please don't read this.
If you haven't, think of Leigh as an independent. He hasn't been forced to compromise by producers, writers, actors, so his films are his films. It's not a matter of, say... the Raging Bull Scorsese vs. the Color of Money Scorsese.
Secrets & Lies is the first fairly wide release of one of Leigh's films in the United States. Its story about an adopted black woman's search for her birth mother is as good an introduction as any to his world of working class British life.
If all the copies are out, see if you can find High Hopes, Life is Sweet, or Naked. Try either the comedy or drama section.
If you're lucky, you'll be able to track down some of Leigh's TV work. Nuts in May, about a British couple on holiday, is one of the funniest movies I've seen, bar none. Then there's the play: Abigail's Party, also hilarious. Many more: all good to great.
Bottom line: you owe it to yourself to try Mike Leigh. I won't say that he'll be your cup of tea, but he is a unique director with a unique body of work and if he clicks with you, you're in for many hours of exceptional entertainment. |
