Mike Leigh at 75: Happy-Go-Lucky
Monday, February 19, 2018 at 6:23PM With Mike Leigh turning 75 tomorrow, we'll be looking at a few of his films. Here's Chris Feil
Of Mike Leigh’s many great films, Happy-Go-Lucky is perhaps the one the has grown most in its potency. Though his films reward multiple viewings, here is one that has grown all the more meaningful as the world around us has become increasingly fraught with depressing news; the benefit of positivity is at once essential and ignored. The film is both a character study of its relentlessly gleeful protagonist Poppy, played to perfection by Sally Hawkins, and about how the world works against her optimistic state of being.
The pull to submit to anger and gloom weighs heavy on our times, and an outlook like Poppy’s can seem so very far away indeed.
Ten years on now, Happy-Go-Lucky feels prescient to the dire state of the world, as if we are becoming more like those annoyed by her cheeriness. Some of us who once saw ourselves in Poppy might have even succumbed to the numbing anger of the every day in the intervening years...
Through Poppy’s experiences, the film asks how we can make room for optimism and examines how we dismiss it, sometimes cruelly so.
The film uses her self-aware affability to comedic effect, as if Poppy is some kind of alien floating above the ground on a cloud of goodwill. Her laughter is sometimes an obstruction or distraction from the task at hand. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” she bemusedly says when her bike is stolen early on, the most chipper person to ever be stranded. She’s rather amused by what is out of our control, finding joy by allowing life to happen as it will rather than forcing it to happen as we demand.
And it’s not that Poppy isn’t confronted with circumstances of soul-crushing consequence, as well. She risks safety to listen to a mentally ill man on the street, and connects to his humanity despite his incoherence. When one of her students faces abuse at home, she believes he will be resilient once with the care of social services.
Crucially Leigh makes Poppy a teacher, perhaps a reminder that those who can see things from the bright side are our cultural caregivers, the keepers of our humanity. In Poppy, optimism and kindness are one and the same - and its not as easy as she might make it look. Sometimes it’s her that’s fighting the uphill battle, with her indefatiguable spirit being quietly revolutionary. She is often brushed off as silly, or ignorant of the real world around her, but her belief in the human spirit makes her a substantial, clear-eyed person not to be dismissed.
In so many ways Leigh knows that some of her behavior will annoy us, whether because its outside the rules of how we’re supposed to behave, or our own gloom informing our perceptions, or even because of frustration with ourselves that we’re not more like Poppy. It’s not just that we don’t view compassion as a formidable strength -- the demands we place on ourselves treat it as weakness.
In 2018 you would think that Poppy would read as even more of a willfully ignorant dolt, but think again. It's now easier to see her chipper attitude as a conscious choice. And how her behavior is not as easy to enact in some more trying situations. Take the thing that does momentarily break her, the verbal assault from her driving instructor Scott, the ferocious Eddie Marsan. Poppy is forced to reestablish her boundaries, and does so because it is the only way for Scott to respect the line he has crossed. In doing so, she’s forced to protect that part of herself that wants to continue believing in the world’s Scotts. But the melancholy with which she offers her kindness redefines the tense moment gracefully.
Poppy is never less than full-fleshed person. Much as we might assume naivety or reduce her with a “not a serious person” dismissal, a modest and comedic performance like Sally Hawkins' can be easily underestimated. In many ways Poppy’s demeanor has framed how the actress has been perceived. However it’s her ability to embody and enhance Leigh’s themes of a world at odds with optimism that makes Happy-Go-Lucky linger as long and deep as it does, and shows her impressive skill. For a supposedly sweet film and performance, she makes you feel it in your gut.
So is it over-simplistic to say that we need the Poppys of the world now more than ever? You might say yes, but Poppy - and Leigh - would argue that what she offers isn’t so simple. There is profundity in the bright side, and with Happy-Go-Lucky, Leigh’s rigorous humanity shines even brighter in these darker times. "Be happy!"
Reader Comments (21)
Although I hate the 2008 snub I think it gave her lots of goodwill in the Academy,the 2013 surprise nomination confirmed it and TSOW nomination sealed,destined to win very soon.
Sally is just so, so good in this.
Hurtful snub, but at least it gave her a solid career afterwards
What a great article! I agree that Sally is fantastic in this, bafflingly ignored by Oscar - especially giving what Streep and Jolie were recognized for dishing out - and always thought that Eddie Marsan's overdone work helped me learn that bad supporting performances can drag down great leading ones. He's just so nasty and selfish and I just don't believe anything he says to her in that gif, nor do I find her goodness as "bad" as his overt awfulness. She's a genius in this, and wish she's been opposite Jim Broadbent or Timothy Spall or Imelda Staunton, someone with a brand of kindness that could actually shine a different light on this woman's optimism.
Love this article Chris.
A favourite movie of mine. Hopefully you'll do Another Year as well. My other Leigh favourite. At least Sally won the Golden Globe as a high profile win. Hers and Colin Farrell in actor were great comedy wins that year.
One of the greatest screen performances in one of the greatest films of all-time.
Althot Hawkins won almost all the major critics awards (NYCC, LAFCC, NFSC, etc) n the Berlin n GG, she was too much of an unknown in Hollywood then + she is in a comedy which is alws taken less seriously.
Not only was she snubbed at Oscars, but SAG n even her hometown Bafta din nom her at all. 2008 was ano super competitive yr for actresses.
I was upset when Sally Hawkins got snubbed. She was a joy to watch and that was the performance that made her a star.
My favourite film of 2008 and my favourite Mike Leigh film. Such a wonderful character and performance.
Chris, this article is so beautiful. Poppy is such a lovely creation, and I have thought that since I saw "Happy Go Lucky" at a strange screening in Madison, WI with my parents - we had to go about a quarter of a mile to get to theatre, around many corners, and then the theatre was so cold I put my mittens and hat back on - but we still talk about the amazing movie we saw.
This movie has really stuck with me and you're right, it's even more relevant today. Loved reading this.
Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-Lucky is my number most heartbreaking Oscar snub ever. I remember watching the nominations live, barging into my sister's room, waking her up and just screaming about it. I'm still not over it!
Love Sally Hawkins in this. It is probably difficult for me to imagine anyone else illuminating Poppy as this "unknown" British actress whose effervescence was a thing of pure joy and pure beauty to my heart. Sad about that snub but she has given so many wonderful performances, and even small but memorable ones in Never Let Me Go and Vera Drake.
A shout out to Karina Fernández as the flamenco teacher. Brilliant.
Funny - I just re-watched her Golden Globe win for this and her competition included Frances McDormand (and Meryl Streep).
My favorite film of 2008 and my favorite performance of 2008.
And I agree, Karina Fernández is wonderful in this and as the son's girlfriend in Another Year as well. She is waiting for her breakout.
Claran: 1. This isn't really a "pure" comedy. We're not talking Ghostbusters (either version), here. And 2. I don't really think the "unknown" factor is what killed her. What killed Hawkins nomination for this was coming out in the same year as the year already carved in stone as Winslet's year in Lead Actress. No actor or actress was going to vote #1 for a performance they thought might upset Winslet in 2008. She'd already had two absolutely PAINFUL losses (a category fraud loss in 1995 and against Hilary Swank repeating herself in 2004), so this was her time. Hawkins might have disrupted that, so...she doesn't make the ballot.
I love Sally Hawkins.
Great actress, with wonderful perfomances in Happy Go Lucky and Blue Jasmine .
And, of course, in The shape of water!
I love this movie so much. My wife and I even named our cat Poppy because she has Poppy's spirit!
I’m so glad this film is featured here! It’s probably THE Mike Leigh movie I keep coming back to. Poppy’s is a great example of someone who possesses an ocean of empathy but still able to draw boundaries. Her warmth, professionalism, and open-mindedness are qualities that a helping professional should strive for. Yes, she might push the boundaries a bit, like when she encounters a homeless person, but it shows how hard she tries to understand another human being. No, she’s not perfect, but I learn so much from the character that I also fell in love with Hawkins <3. I did feel the romantic plot line felt out of place, but it doesn’t detract my love for the movie, so I’m anxiously waiting for it to be in the criterion collection!
A wonderful film and a truly star-making turn for Hawkins. I too remember being disappointed that she didn't garner an Oscar nomination (though I try not to view everything in Oscar terms). At any rate the film and Hawkins' performance endure.
HGL is a marvelous film that I didn't see until after I had seen Maudie and TSOW. After the final credits rolled for each of those, I sat for a good 10 minutes absorbing Sally's performance. What range, interiority, and strength she brings!
I'm a novelist, and watching her performances helps me inform my own characters. Sally's certainly in the top handful of the finest actresses of our time, and is woefully under-recognized. I hope she soon gets the roles and accolades she deserves.