Mike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE (born 20 February 1943) is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s his career moved between work for the theatre and making films for BBC Television, many of which were characterized by a gritty "kitchen sink realism" style. His well-known films include Life is Sweet (1990), the comedy-drama Career Girls (1997), the Gilbert and Sullivan biopic Topsy Turvy (1999), and the bleak working-class drama All or Nothing (2002). His most notable works are arguably Naked (1993) for which he won the Best Director Award at Cannes, the BAFTA-winning (and Oscar-nominated) Palme d'Or winner Secrets & Lies (1996) and Golden Lion winner Vera Drake (2004). His films and stage plays, according to the critic Michael Coveney, "comprise a distinctive, homogenous body of work which stands comparison with anyone's in the British theatre and cinema over the same period." Coveney further noted Leigh's role in helping to create stars – Liz Smith in Hard Labour, Alison Steadman in Abigail's Party, Brenda Blethyn in Grown-Ups, Antony Sher in Goose-Pimples, Gary Oldman and Tim Roth in Meantime, Jane Horrocks in Life is Sweet, David Thewlis in Naked – and remarked that the list of actors who have worked with him over the years – ...
High Hopes
(1989)
Slice-of-life look at a sweet working-class couple in London, Shirley and Cyril, his mother, who's aging quickly and becoming forgetful, mum's ghastly upper-middle-class neighbors, and Cyril's pretentious sister and philandering husband. Shirley wants a baby, but ... (more)
Slice-of-life look at a sweet working-class couple in London, Shirley and Cyril, his mother, who's aging quickly and becoming forgetful, mum's ghastly upper-middle-class neighbors, and Cyril's pretentious sister and philandering husband. Shirley wants a baby, but ... (more)
Life Is Sweet
(1990)
Just north of London live Wendy, Andy, and their twenty-something twins, Natalie and Nicola. Wendy clerks in a shop, Andy is a cook who forever puts off home remodeling projects, Natalie is a plumber and Nicola is jobless. This film is about how they interact and ... (more)
Just north of London live Wendy, Andy, and their twenty-something twins, Natalie and Nicola. Wendy clerks in a shop, Andy is a cook who forever puts off home remodeling projects, Natalie is a plumber and Nicola is jobless. This film is about how they interact and ... (more)
Naked
(1993)
BrilliantComplexDarkInsightful
An unemployed Brit vents his rage on unsuspecting strangers as he embarks on a nocturnal London odyssey. (more)
An unemployed Brit vents his rage on unsuspecting strangers as he embarks on a nocturnal London odyssey. (more)
Secrets & Lies
(1996)
FunnyPowerfulBrilliantEmotional
With both her adoptive parents now dead, a black optometrist decides to make contact with her birth mother, but is shocked to find out that she is white. (more)
With both her adoptive parents now dead, a black optometrist decides to make contact with her birth mother, but is shocked to find out that she is white. (more)
Topsy-Turvy
(1999)
After their production "Princess Ida" meets with less-than-stunning reviews, the relationship between Gilbert and Sullivan is strained to breaking. Their friends and associates attempt to get the two to work together again, which opens the way to "The Mikado," one ... (more)
After their production "Princess Ida" meets with less-than-stunning reviews, the relationship between Gilbert and Sullivan is strained to breaking. Their friends and associates attempt to get the two to work together again, which opens the way to "The Mikado," one ... (more)
Vera Drake
(2004)
Slow movingDarkEmotionalInsightful
Abortionist Vera Drake finds her beliefs and practices clash with the mores of 1950s Britain – a conflict that leads to tragedy for her family. (more)
Abortionist Vera Drake finds her beliefs and practices clash with the mores of 1950s Britain – a conflict that leads to tragedy for her family. (more)
Career Girls
(1997)
Two young women reunite and rekindle their friendship after having said goodbye at their college graduation, six years earlier. (more)
Two young women reunite and rekindle their friendship after having said goodbye at their college graduation, six years earlier. (more)
Two Left Feet (1965)
Based on David Stuart Leslie's novel Two Left Feet is a story about Alan Crabbe (Michael Crawford a callow youth desperate for a date with any girl who can offer him the experience he lacks. Every time Alan tries a manful stride into the jungle of sex, his two left ... (more)
Based on David Stuart Leslie's novel Two Left Feet is a story about Alan Crabbe (Michael Crawford a callow youth desperate for a date with any girl who can offer him the experience he lacks. Every time Alan tries a manful stride into the jungle of sex, his two left ... (more)
Another Year
(2010)
During a year, a very content couple approaching retirement are visited by friends and family less happy with their lives. (more)
During a year, a very content couple approaching retirement are visited by friends and family less happy with their lives. (more)
Home Sweet Home
(1982)
Three postal workers and their dysfunctional families interact over cups of tea and Sunday dinner. (more)
Three postal workers and their dysfunctional families interact over cups of tea and Sunday dinner. (more)
A Light Snack (1982)
A window cleaner fancies a sausage roll, but all is not well in the sausage roll factory. (more)
A window cleaner fancies a sausage roll, but all is not well in the sausage roll factory. (more)
Five-Minute Films: Afternoon (1982)
A couple of old friends drown their sorrows together while reveling in the naivety of a young newly-wed. (more)
A couple of old friends drown their sorrows together while reveling in the naivety of a young newly-wed. (more)
Five-Minute Films: Old Chums (1982)
A man relentlessly bombards another man with small talk, while the other man tries to fend for himself while using crutches. (more)
A man relentlessly bombards another man with small talk, while the other man tries to fend for himself while using crutches. (more)
A boy goes to see his probation officer. (more)
The Birth of the Goalie of the 2001 F.A. Cup Final (1982)
A slow-witted couple decide to start a family. (more)
A slow-witted couple decide to start a family. (more)
Nuts in May
(1976)
A middle-class couple go camping in Dorset, but peace and quiet elude them. (more)
A middle-class couple go camping in Dorset, but peace and quiet elude them. (more)
What Is Cinema?
(2013)
Using the words and ideas of great filmmakers, from archival interviews with Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Bresson to new interviews with Mike Leigh, David Lynch, and Jonas Mekas, Oscar-winning filmmaker Chuck Workman shows what these filmmakers and others do that ... (more)
Using the words and ideas of great filmmakers, from archival interviews with Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Bresson to new interviews with Mike Leigh, David Lynch, and Jonas Mekas, Oscar-winning filmmaker Chuck Workman shows what these filmmakers and others do that ... (more)
A Running Jump
(2012)
Gary attempts to buy a second-hand car. What should be a straightforward task is turned into something of a quest by various people, including dodgy East End car dealer Perry, Perry's taxi-driver dad, a garage owner called Derek, Perry's wife Debbie and couple of ... (more)
Gary attempts to buy a second-hand car. What should be a straightforward task is turned into something of a quest by various people, including dodgy East End car dealer Perry, Perry's taxi-driver dad, a garage owner called Derek, Perry's wife Debbie and couple of ... (more)
Vittorio D. (2009)
A documentary about Vittorio de Sica with clips of his films and testimonials from friends and family. (more)
A documentary about Vittorio de Sica with clips of his films and testimonials from friends and family. (more)
The Short & Curlies
(1988)
A short comedy by Mike Leigh about the romance between a young woman and a man who communicates only through jokes and humor... (more)
A short comedy by Mike Leigh about the romance between a young woman and a man who communicates only through jokes and humor... (more)