Life Is Sweet
Dir: Mike Leigh
1991
*****
Life Is Sweet is classic Mike Leigh. Unpretentious, unsweetened social realism that is as sweet as sugar and has England's White middle-class stating things like 'I knew those people/I ate in the Regret Rien/It's funny because it's true'. Maybe a little unfair of me to talk badly of England's White middle-class (I'm not that far away myself) but I love it and I love Mike Leigh's films but hate most other people who say they do. I hate the way Leigh has been treated by Hollywood too but I feel it's nothing compared to how he's been treated in his own country and the city in which he resides. BFI and BAFTA owe him so much but haven't, until quite recently, given him the acknowledgment he deserves. Life Is Sweet is a great example of Leigh as conductor, orchestrating a circus of character and emotion. It's got so much heart, so much joy in its hopeful demeanor and so much humour in its condition. I usually prefer Leigh's more serious films with funny undertones but I'll happily watch Life Is Sweet again and again and smile every time.