British filmmaker Mike Leigh began his career in the 1970s as a
playwright and theater director. Later he made a number of films of
varying lengths for British television and then moved into feature
film production. Although well established in the U. K., he slowly
gained a reputation in the United States, where, at first, his work
was known to a relatively small number of filmgoers and critics.
Such major films as High Hopes and Life Is Sweet attracted little
attention in America. With the release of Secrets and Lies,
however, the audience for Leigh's films increased dramatically.
Mike Leigh: Interviews collects published conversations from the
past seven years. Not just a close-up encounter with Leigh, they
also express both his unusual work style and the emotional and
intellectual toughness that characterizes his distinct approach to
filmmaking.
As Leigh speaks in these interviews, he reveals what is unique
in his work, particularly that his films do not begin with a
script. Explaining this approach, he discusses how he begins by
assembling a few actors who talk, improvise, create characters, and
gradually develop a story that contains their actions. Before the
camera rolls, a tentative script is set, but many months may pass
before the script is finished and the shooting begins.
Among those he talks with in these interviews are Jay Carr of
the Boston Globe, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times, and Judy
Stone, the longtime critic of the San Francisco Chronicle. Leigh is
asked to discuss politics, social attitudes, and religion--all of
which give his films a unique signature. Howie Movshovitz is the
director of FilmCenter Denver in the College of Arts and Media at
the University of Colorado. He also is a film critic for Colorado
Public Radio and a contributor to Playboy.com and "Morning Edition"
on NPR.
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