My first Guest Blogger filed this post from the recent 2008 Scottsdale Film Festival:He shoots, he scores…
…Yep, Mike Leigh has, as they say, done it again. I am already a huge fan of Mr. Leigh’s work, one of my fav flicks being Nuts In May - I cannot eat a raw mushroom without thinking of Candice Marie And Keith. His films have everything I enjoy, from the none movie set way they are shot, realistic characters and a realistic slice of English life, and a story that can mean nothing or everything depending on your interpretation. Anyhoo, on to the review.
Happy-Go-Lucky, what an absolute gem of a film. The opening credits are just how they should be, with our main character Poppy cycling around London Town with a smile on her face, hair blowing in the wind and just giving us a sense of a bright, sunny day. Most days in Poppy’s life are bright and sunny to her. I must admit the first couple of scenes I wondered how I was going to put up with this constant cheery disposition for two hours, but by the end of it I wished I could live in Poppy’s world if only for a day or two. Yes, she is cheery but it feels real – she’s an intelligent, responsible woman who’s happy with the choices she’s made in her life and happy with where she is in her life. Sally Hawkins does a fantastic job in making Poppy endearing and believable.
Another major character in this film is Scott, the driving instructor, played by Eddie Marsan. What a brilliant, brilliant performance. From the moment he appears you are just waiting for him to explode ... you won’t be disappointed, the moment comes and it’s how the moment should be. Scott is a man with his anger just simmering away, a conspiracy theory for most things, he was never really loved as a child and in the words of Mike Leigh “probably never had a cuddle in his life”.
I could gabble on and on for another few pages or so about Happy-Go-Lucky and the characters you’ll meet, but I want to move on to the post-film Q & A session with director Mike Leigh that I was privileged to attend. After “meeting” him and listening his A’s to the Q’s you totally understand why his films are the way they are. He has no airs and graces, is extremely down to earth and there is nothing Hollywood about him. How refreshing. It was fascinating to hear him explain how the whole process of his filmmaking comes about. Leigh starts a project with a feeling and an idea of the kind of story he wants to tell (for Happy-Go-Lucky he was aiming to make an anti-miserable film. He succeeded.) He doesn’t start with a script or a definite story outlined, instead he starts by gathering the actors he’s hoping to work with and just has a conversation for six months throwing around ideas and developing the characters. During these six months the actors will improvise the scenes trying out different dialogue, words, feelings and then from there the film develops. Genius.
I loved, loved, loved this film. I loved it’s authentic English feel (not everyone in London lives in Notting Hill and speaks like Hugh Grant or Keira Knightly, Ugh.), I loved the simplicity of the story and depth of characters. And I loved how happy and uplifted I felt after peeping this flick.
Mrs. to The Big and Small Screen Mr. Reporting live from Phoenix, Arizona.
Rating: *****
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