Mike Leigh biography part 3: 1993 to present. (Mike Leigh bio part 1, Mike Leigh bio part 2)

1993 saw the release of Naked the film that catapulted Leigh into the big league. The story centres around Johnny, a Mancunian on the run, who goes to London to find his ex-girlfriend Louise. When Johnny turns up at Louise's flat she is not in, but her flat mate Sophie is. Charmed by Johnny's wit and intelligence, Sophie soon falls for him, but is quickly dropped from his attentions when Lousie returns, and it becomes clear that Louise is the one person who knows Johnny even better than himself. When Johnny's interest levels start to drop and it becomes clear that Louise wants to have at least part of a life to herself, he hits the streets. Johnny's dissatisfaction with "normal" life leads him to engage with the people he meets and takes every opportunity to spout his doom laden prophecies on the end of society and the reality of existence. Naked was hailed by most critics (despite some vociferous detractors who saw the violence perpetrated against woman in the picture as unchallenged) as an intensely brilliant tour de force of a film. David Thewlis's portrayal of Johnny, the quick witted, motormouthed prophecy of doom, was universally acclaimed as one of the finest performances in many years and both he and Leigh won at Cannes that year.

1996 saw Mike Leigh capitalising on the success of Naked with Secrets and Lies which turned out to be a commercial and critical success (even eclipsing the success of its predecessor with five Oscar nominations, to go with the Awards the film won at both Cannes and Bafta). Secrets and Lies is set in London and centres around Cynthia. Cynthia lives alone with her somewhat sullen daughter Roxanne. Cynthia's brother Maurice runs a photographer's studio which has been successful enough to enable him and his wife Monica to move into a lovely big house. Cynthia and Maurice have drifted apart but as Roxanne's birthday is imminent Maurice is keen to get the extended family together and plans are made for a family barbecue at the new house. Meanwhile Hortense, a professional lady of mixed race who was adopted at birth, is trying to trace her birth mother - which turns out to be Cynthia. Cynthia never told her family about the child, and she seems to have managed to blot it out of her memory almost completely. So when she is contacted to arrange a meeting, she subsequently meets with Hortense and finds it very difficult to accept, but how will the extended family cope with the news that they have another relative that they did not know about for so many years?

The next year saw the release of Career Girls. The story is set in London during the late nineties, with flashbacks to the mid eighties. The story centres Annie, who agrees to go back down to London on a bank holiday weekend to meet up with her old friend Hannah. They both reminisce about the time in their early twenties when they were at university and shared a flat together. Now approaching their thirties they consider to what extent their lives have moved on and how they have changed. They also check out some of their old haunts and chance upon some old faces along the way. Career Girls was not the hit with the critics that Leigh had enjoyed with his previous two movies, and despite some rather good performances (especially from the superb Katrin Cartlidge) the unlikely coincidences that are required to keep the story led to a feeling that the film felt rather too contrived.

Mike Leigh's next film Topsy Turvy (1999) was a departure from his previous films in that it was a period piece based on the real story of Gilbert and Sullivan. It tells the story of messrs who after years of stunning audiences with their operettas, produce "Princess Ida" which receives only lukewarm reviews. Fearful of what the reaction might mean to their future career the pressure of the situation begins to affect their professional relationship relationship. Everyone rushes around the two to get them working together again on the proposed new project "The Mikado". Obviously given its subject matter Topsy Turvy would not really have ever been seen as a candidate for mainstream success, but again it garnered award nominations, including another Oscar nomination for Mike Leigh (it also won two oscars for Make up and Costumes).

2002 saw Mike Leigh back on familiar territory. All or Nothing told the story of family and friends living on a working-class London housing estate. Phil, a taxi-driver, thinks his joyless marriage, stale form the pressure of hard times, is falling apart and that his wife Penny (a checkout worker in a supermarket) no longer loves him. Their daughter Rachel who works in a home for elderly people,sees the schism appear before Penny is aware of it. Their son Rory is unemployed and aggressive to all around, but Rory suffers a heart attack that will ensure the family will have to reassess their life's priorities. All or Nothing was yet another of Leigh's successful studies on the pressures of family life which was again relatively well received without setting the world alight, unlike Leigh's next movie.

Vera Drake (2004) saw Mike Leigh's biggest success to date. Vera Drake is set in London in the 1950's and tells the story of Vera a selfless woman whose life is devoted to caring for her working class family, and looking after her sick neighbour and elderly mother. She also secretly helps women induce miscarriages of their unwanted pregnancies. When Vera is shopped to the Police both Vera and her family fall apart. Vera Drake was universally acclaimed upon its release for its authenticity and honest approach exploring a difficult subject. Vera Drake, quite justly, received countless awards and nominations (including two further Oscar nominations for Leigh).

Fresh from his hugely successful return to the theatre with his new play Two Thousand Years, Mike Leigh's next film project Happy-Go-Lucky. Released in the UK on 18th April 2008, the film is set in London and centers around the story of Poppy (played by the superb Sally Hawkins who also appeared Vera Drake and All or Nothing). Poppy has a bright happy-go-lucky demeanor that seems a contradiction to modern life and all those around her. The film also stars Eddie Marsan (also from Vera Drake) as an uptight angry driving instructor. It is leigh's first film shot in the widescreen format. It also harks back to Leigh's less heavy subject matters and quirky style. It has already garnered 2 prestigious nominations at Berlin International Film Festival. Despite being well received amongst Mike Leigh fans (who have compared it stylistically to Life Is Sweet), the film failed to make too much of an impact on the wider cinema audience. Disaapointing perhaps after the exposure Leigh received from Vera Drake, but understandable given the nature of the film. The DVD received a very prompt DVD release date of 18th August 2008.

By (Happy-go-) lucky chance, to coincide with the release of his new film, a new Mike Leigh box set of DVDs is being released in the UK on 7th April 2008. The 11 disc box set rounds up his 10 feature films and includes the following films: Vera Drake (2004) • Special Features: Cast & Crew documentary, trailer. All or Nothing (2002) • Special Features: Commentary by Mike Leigh, Interviews and Trailer. Topsy-Turvy (1999) • Special Features: Commentary by Mike Leigh, Trailer. Career Girls (1997) • Special Features: Trailer. Secrets & Lies (1996) • Special Features: Interview with Mike Leigh, short film - A Sense of History, Trailer. Naked (1993) • Special Features: Commentary by Mike Leigh, David Thewlis and Katrin Cartlidge. Trailer Life Is Sweet (1990) • Special Features: Short The Short & Curlies, Trailer. High Hopes (1988) • Special Features: Interview with Mike Leigh and On Set Footage, Production Notes and Biographies. Meantime (1984) • Special Features: Interviews with Mike Leigh, Tim Roth and Marion Bailey. Bleak Moments (1971) - available for the first time in the UK DVD. The DVD set is available from our Mike Leigh UK store, as is the Happy-Go-Lucky DVD.