January 24, 2009: Happy-Go-Lucky
Happy-Go-Lucky is the latest from British auteur Mike Leigh. He generally brings us poignant character studies, and frequently directs his cast to acting award nominations, if not necessarily wins. Most recently he brought us Vera Drake four years ago, about a middle-aged British housewife performing illegal abortions. A decade earlier, Secrets and Lies examined interracial family tensions.
Happy-Go-Lucky is much more, well, happy-go-lucky than either of those. We meet Poppy (played by Sally Hawkins, somewhat surprisingly snubbed at the Oscars in favour of an Original Screenplay nomination for Mike Leigh), a twentysomething or I suppose more likely thirtysomething kindergarten teacher who brings a bright smile and friendly disposition to everyone she encounters, including random strangers in stores, her friends and family, her driving instructor, and the kids she teaches. A couple of months go by, relationships change and people grow together and grow apart, and there are no major differences in Poppy’s life once we’re finished following this slice of it.
Poppy loves her job, and even works with a teacher friend on the weekends to develop and test out activities for her students, to make sure that the kids get the best possible schooling experience. She parties with her friends on weekends as well, and while they don’t know exactly where they will end up in life, they know that they should enjoy what life brings them right now and not be overly worried about the future. Poppy is always upbeat and outwardly happy, sometimes to the point of making others (friends, colleagues and strangers alike) feel awkward, but it’s clear that she’s struggling inside at times, maybe more than she or us would like to think. Contrast this with her two sisters, one who is controlling and the other who is much more openly searching for her place in the world, and we see that maybe Poppy’s outgoing manner is really just a shell developed over the decades to deal with the endless tension which arose from having siblings she doesn’t understand or necessarily even respect.
The major subplot of the film (taking the general flow of Poppy’s life as being the main plot, such as it is) chronicles Poppy’s ongoing driving lessons. Her instructor is a difficult man, with a short fuse and horrible teaching technique and ever-more-apparent racist tendencies, who causes some very real fear in Poppy as time goes on, although she refuses to simply shy away entirely from this man who clearly needs help. When things eventually blow up between the two of them, her restraint is remarkable since we know she can hold her own and fight her fights when she needs to. It’s clear that she believes in humans being good at heart, and knows that they need to connect with others, and that they deserve a second chance.
This is an odd film, but worth a look if the description appeals. Oh, and there’s cool widescreen cinematography throughout from Bill Pope, including a really neat shot up a stairway, framed with the railing.
Engaging, if tense, slice of life.
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