The great prickly humanist of British cinema, Mike Leigh has forged a body of work unique in its concern for the struggles of ordinary people and the social fabric of working-class London. Famously born from a process of extensive improvisation with his powerhouse actors, Leigh’s films inhabit a register of tragicomic despair that, thanks to their unwavering compassion, never slips into miserabilism. From his early slice-of-life portraits of Thatcher-era Britain (MEANTIME, HIGH HOPES) to his award-winning international triumphs (NAKED, SECRETS & LIES), Leigh plumbs the darkest depths of the human condition without ever losing hope.
Directed by Mike Leigh • 1987 • United Kingdom
David Thewlis and Alison Steadman star in this 1987 short comedy by Mike Leigh about a romance between a hairdresser’s daughter and a young man who communicates only through one-liners.
Directed by Mike Leigh • 1988 • United Kingdom
Starring Phil Davis, Ruth Sheen, Edna Doré
True to its title, this slice-of-life satire is one of director Mike Leigh’s warmest and most optimistic films—though it’s still laced with more than a touch of bittersweet melancholy. Focusing on countercu...
Directed by Mike Leigh • 1984 • United Kingdom
Starring Tim Roth, Phil Daniels, Gary Oldman
A slow-burning depiction of economic degradation in Thatcher’s England, Mike Leigh’s MEANTIME is the culmination of the writer-director’s pioneering work in television. Unemployment is rampant in London’s...
Directed by Mike Leigh • 1990 • United Kingdom
Starring Claire Skinner, Jane Horrocks, Jim Broadbent
This invigorating film from Mike Leigh was his first international sensation. Melancholy and funny by turns, it is an intimate portrait of a working-class family in a suburb just north of London—...
Directed by Mike Leigh • 1993 • United Kingdom
The brilliant and controversial Naked, from director Mike Leigh, stars David Thewlis as Johnny, a charming and eloquent but relentlessly vicious drifter. Rejecting anyone who might care for him, the volcanic Johnny hurls himself around London on a n...
Directed by Mike Leigh • 1996 • United Kingdom
Mike Leigh's Palme D'Or winning family drama concerns a working class woman who is shocked when the mixed-race daughter she gave up at birth tracks her down.
Directed by Mike Leigh • 1997 • United Kingdom
Starring Katrin Cartlidge, Lynda Steadman
CAREER GIRLS looks at two thirty-year-old career women who meet up after a long period apart and rediscover the relationship they enjoyed when they shared an apartment years ago. Moving, sad and funny, it’s ...
