One of Leigh's best
I have it on VHS and watch it once or twice a year. Classic. I "get" Leigh. I dig the guy, and I love his reluctance to "discuss" his work. Smart man...
shareI think I 'get' him too because I don't understand the criticisms directed towards his work, especially in this film which is probably my favourite Leigh film.
Why do you refuse to remember me?share
I think I 'get' him too because I don't understand the criticisms directed towards his work, especially in this film which is probably my favourite Leigh film.In the UK there used to be a TV review show called "Late Review". Every time the regular panel of critics would review Leigh's latest film or play I'd cringe because they'd constantly bash the hell out of him (particularly Tom Paulin and Tony Parsons - to be fair, Mark Lawson, probably did like Leigh's films but as the show moderator he had to keep relatively schtum as far as his opinion went). Paulin and Parsons would constantly attack Mike Leigh for sneering at the working/lower-middle-class, particularly with respect to the characters' accents. The thing is, I don't know what world they come from (well actually Paulin is upper-middle-class Irish but Parsons is supposedly working-class) but in my own personal experience the characters Leigh presents do exist. Some of them are basically my family (heck, some of them represent me at certain stages of my life), and I love and respect my family and don't consider Leigh's mostly truthful and perceptive depictions of working class/lower-middle-class British life to be in any way patronising or unfair.
Anyway, suffice to say, I must 'get' Mike Leigh too because I have yet to see a Leigh film I didn't like, and I've seen most of them. This however is my second favourite after 'Another Year' (I love 'Naked' and 'Vera Drake' too but there isn't much, if any, lightness to counterbalance the darkness in those two films). share
Nice post and one with which I agree. If Leigh sneers at the working class because of the accents then he sneers at the middle classes too. High Hopes is one of his most scathing films when it comes to class division and the toffs come off very badly in that film.
Perhaps Parsons is embarrassed by the truth of the accents that reflect his roots. As for Tom Paulin, well ... I don't think he's best placed to offer comments.
I've yet to see Another Year; it's in a pile of dvds waiting to be watched. Not seen Vera Drake either but not sure I want to for some reason.
I give my respect to those who have earned it; to everyone else, I'm civil.share