Writer/Director: Mike Leigh
Year: 2002
Cinematographer: Dick Pope
Again Mike Leigh brings us reality. Real people, perfectly acted by a great cast, capable of hitting each note with total realism. The conflicts and arguments in Leigh's films always seem to build to that point to which if you yourself have ever experienced that bit of real life it would move you to tears I'm sure. He never goes too big, nothing is ever unbelievable, there is no suspension of disbelief with Mike Leigh's cinema, you can't help but be drawn in by the characters and their conflicts, but at the same time, these films are so hard to watch because it is like watching reality.
Mike Leigh never offers entertainment, but he does seem to always offer some hope.
If you want to see great acting, or if you are tired of Hollywood cinema and you want to see a film about REAL people and the kinds of conflicts normal people have, watch a Mike Leigh film, and All or Nothing is an especially good example.
However, after now seeing 4 of his films: All or Nothing, Secrets and Lies, Vera Drake, and Happy-Go-Lucky... I am certainly most likely to revisit Happy-Go-Lucky... because all the others are the sad reality, and in Happy-Go-Lucky you get the relief of following a character who is happy in her reality.
He's a great filmmaker, extremely consistent, but his films are hard to watch.
Again Mike Leigh brings us reality. Real people, perfectly acted by a great cast, capable of hitting each note with total realism. The conflicts and arguments in Leigh's films always seem to build to that point to which if you yourself have ever experienced that bit of real life it would move you to tears I'm sure. He never goes too big, nothing is ever unbelievable, there is no suspension of disbelief with Mike Leigh's cinema, you can't help but be drawn in by the characters and their conflicts, but at the same time, these films are so hard to watch because it is like watching reality.
Mike Leigh never offers entertainment, but he does seem to always offer some hope.
If you want to see great acting, or if you are tired of Hollywood cinema and you want to see a film about REAL people and the kinds of conflicts normal people have, watch a Mike Leigh film, and All or Nothing is an especially good example.
However, after now seeing 4 of his films: All or Nothing, Secrets and Lies, Vera Drake, and Happy-Go-Lucky... I am certainly most likely to revisit Happy-Go-Lucky... because all the others are the sad reality, and in Happy-Go-Lucky you get the relief of following a character who is happy in her reality.
He's a great filmmaker, extremely consistent, but his films are hard to watch.
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