HUMAN CONDITIONS: THE FILMS OF MIKE LEIGH Comes to Be Featured at Film at Lincoln Center

Film at Lincoln Center announces Human Conditions: The Films of Mike Leigh, a retrospective of the widely lauded director's career, running from May 27-June 8. For over half a century, Mike Leigh has directed films suffused with emotion and the realities of working-class struggle. From his debut feature, Bleak Moments (1971); to his '70s television work for the BBC; to the breakout mid-career successes of Life Is Sweet (1990), Naked (1993), and Secrets and Lies (1996); through the historical films that have marked his output more recently, like Mr. Turner (2014) and Peterloo (2018), a Mike Leigh film always has an unmistakable energy and feeling for the triumphs and tragedies of everyday life.

Leigh is one of world cinema's most ardent, relentless humanists, and one of the great directors of actors: his oeuvre abounds with spellbinding, bracingly multilayered portrayals from some of the UK's finest screen performers of the past 50 years, in no small part due to Leigh's unique working methods. Join Film at Lincoln Center as we look back and celebrate Leigh's singular career with the most comprehensive retrospective of his work in New York to date, featuring new digital restorations.

As a special highlight for the retrospective, three of the director's films will be presented in 35mm: All or Nothing, Leigh's eighth theatrical feature, chronicling the lives and working-class struggles of three proletarian families in London; NYFF42 selection and Golden Lion-winner Vera Drake, featuring Imelda Staunton in her Oscar-nominated performance as the titular character, helping women with unwanted pregnancies in early-1950s Britain; and NYFF46 selection Happy-Go-Lucky, Leigh's irresistible 2008 character study centered on Poppy (played with star-making sparkle by Sally Hawkins), a single, 30-year-old kindergarten teacher whose unwaveringly upbeat embrace of life is reflected in the film's title.

The series includes six additional NYFF selections: Secrets & Lies, Leigh's 1996 Palme d'Or-winner starring Brenda Blethyn, who also won that year's Best Actress Award at Cannes; Naked, which earned two Cannes awards: Best Director and Best Actor for revelatory lead David Thewlis; Topsy-Turvy, a one-of-a-kind backstage musical about the creation of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan's 1885 opera The Mikado; Mr. Turner, a portrait of a great artist (J.M.W. Turner, rendered by Timothy Spall) and his time, and a rich, funny, moving film about art and its creation; High Hopes, a narratively surprising and incisive work of social realism; and Another Year, which observes four seasons in the lives of a longtime married couple, their 30-year-old son, and the wife's troubled work colleague (portrayed by a heartbreaking Lesley Manville).

Please note: Masks are required for all staff, audiences, and filmmakers at all times in public spaces. Proof of full vaccination is not required for FLC audiences, but is strongly recommended. Visit filmlinc.org/safety for more information.

Pictured: Secrets & Lies

Courtesy: Criterion