Happy Go Lucky

Word of a new Mike Leigh movie is always well received in my house. His film "Naked" is one of my top five films of all time. Mainly because it sums up the England I left - a bleak, grim Thatcherite island plagued by racism, riots and rot. If there ever was a director who sums up British life then it's Leigh. His work cuts through the BS like a razor. He's also a director whose sense of humor I can relate to, it's very un-American - dry, brittle and often complete with an undertow all it's own. And it's Leigh's commingling of bleakness and humor is what makes his films stand up to repeated viewings. "Naked" is the perfect film for a dark, cold winter night like the one's we're experiencing now.


The new and seemingly happier Mike Leigh film aptly titled "Happy-Go-Lucky" is debuting at the Berlin Film Festival next month (alongside the world premiere of another film I've been waiting for - the documentary on Arthur Russell - "Wild Combination"). Word is "Happy-Go-Lucky" sees the director step back to his classic techniques and regular themes. I'm happy to hear this since even though Leigh's popularity in America soared after 2004's "Vera Drake" that film was hardly typical Leigh. For one it was a period drama, something he hasn't done that often ("Topsy Turvy" the story of Gilbert and Sullivan is the other obvious example). To my mind Leigh excells at dissecting our times. He films are a truer Britain the one exported and sold. I always say if you want to know what Britain is really like watch a Mike Leigh film.

"Happy-Go-Lucky" is described as a comedy set in North London - the film follows the life of a teacher and supposedly, in an unusual step for Leigh, she's seen 'in every single frame of the film'. Talking to the London Film School late last year rumor has it Leigh compared his focus on the protagonist in the film to his work in "Naked" which followed the melancholic eccentric Johnny (David Thewlis) on an odyssey through London. Little else about the new film has been revealed aside from the release date - April 18th in England. Hopefully we'll get it in the States shortly after. Maybe sooner if it wins a prize in Berlin.

I'm also looking forward to buying and reading "Mike Leigh on Mike Leigh" (Faber & Faber UK - April) - a book of new interviews in which Leigh is reported to speak more openly than ever before on his life and unusual working methods all with his playful Northern wit.