Long ago, I tired of the brand of grim UK working-class realist cinema that Mike Leigh and lesser directors have built their careers on. I loved Leigh’s early movies, kicking off with High Hopes, which were original and courageous in their uncompromisingly honest depiction of battling working class Brits at the bottom of the social hierarchy – the Untouchables of the despicable English caste system. Leigh brought an undeniable humanity to his films that surfaced in the moments of humour, affection and dignity his characters somehow salvaged from the squalor and degradation of their mostly bleak existences. Their small personal victories were profoundly moving, and a vital counterbalance to the oppressive bleakness of their physical and human environment. Continue reading ‘Fish Tank’ – Movie Review →