Directed by Mike Leigh • 1971 • United Kingdom
Starring Anne Raitt, Sarah Stephenson, Eric Allan
Mike Leigh announced himself as a unique, powerful new voice in British cinema with BLEAK MOMENTS, a stunning debut of understated melancholy. Adapting his own theatrical play for the screen, Leigh follows Sylvia (Anne Raitt) through a life of quiet desperation in suburban South London as she attends to her developmentally challenged sister (Sarah Stephenson) and attempts to forge romances with her awkward professorial boyfriend (Eric Allan) as well as a shy, guitar-strumming newsletter duplicator (Mike Bradwell). Uncomfortable silences, botched flirtations, and fleeting hints of warmth and humor punctuate Sylvia’s aching descent into solitude, compassionately portrayed by Leigh as symptomatic of humanity’s struggle to communicate and connect.
Up Next in Directed by Mike Leigh
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The Short and Curlies
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 young woman who frequently changes her hairstyle and a young man who communicates only through one-liners.
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High Hopes
Directed by Mike Leigh • 1988 • United Kingdom
Starring Phil Davis, Ruth Sheen, Edna DoréTrue 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...
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Meantime
Directed by Mike Leigh • 1984 • United Kingdom
Starring Tim Roth, Phil Daniels, Gary OldmanA 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...
