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Review by Seth Rogovoy
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Review by Seth Rogovoy
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[FILM REVIEW] HAPPY-GO-LUCKY by Mike Leigh
12.18.08
HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
Written and directed by Mike Leigh
Review by SETH ROGOVOY, editor-in-chief and critic-at large, BERKSHIRE LIVING Magazine
In spite of its light, deft comic touch, Happy-Go-Lucky spares none of director/writer Mike Leigh's signature realism, wit, and his incisive sociocultural critique of working class and aspiring middle-class residents of North London. This delightful, well-written, brilliantly acted film has a lot to say about education and teacher-student relationships, while boasting the heart of a romantic comedy.
The film focuses on several teachers – a couple of primary school teachers, a flamenco dance teacher, and a driving school teacher, and how their lives all intersect.
The film has a lot to say about education, including the sort of teaching that happens in a classroom, but also the sometimes stormy nature of the teacher-student relationship. Leigh goes to great depths to explore how teachers struggle to maintain their composure as professional teachers, while suppressing their own humanity, as expressed through joy, anguish, and violence.
The film's title character, Poppy, is an irrepressibly cheerful Pollyanna, infinitely optimistic and accepting of whatever life throws her way. She’s no dummy, though, and when her cheerful demeanor is challenged to its core, she subtly but firmly demonstrates deep strength and inner wisdom.
The film is also a romantic comedy of sorts, and in spite of Leigh’s penetrating critique of socio-cultural relationships in North London, leaves a viewer walking out of the film feeling, well, happy-go-lucky!
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