The Salford born master of "kitchen sink realism" returns with what can only be described as his most accessible film to date. Happy-Go-Lucky opens across the UK today and has promised to be a departure from his usual grimness, however, his nose for social realism is as sharp as ever in this quirky comedy-drama starring the ever likable Sally Hawkins.
What's the Story?Poppy (Sally Hawkins, who won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Fill Festival [2008]) is a 30-year-old London primary school teacher who wants nothing more from life than to be happy and carefree, and luckily for her, she is. In fact, Poppy is so happy that her general cheer spreads to the bitter folk she encounters along the way. Although this premise may sound off-putting, Poppy (who could have easily been an annoying arse) proves to be a life affirming figure, not only to us but to her racist driving instructor (Eddie Marsan), her close friend Zoe (Alexis Zegerman) and her older colleague Heather (Sylvester Le Trouzel).
The film itself is nothing more than a series of encounters Poppy makes in her day-to-day life, drifting like a feather between flamenco dancing, teaching at a primary school, taking driving lessons and trampolineing. Leigh creates a flowing, dreamy world for his heroine to walk through, marking at each step the qualities that, rather than making her never-ending cheerfulness seem like a mental illness, imbue her with a sense of heroics that raises this comedy above the norm.
Hardcore Leigh
From the opening when we see Poppy cycle through the crappy streets of London, we are already passing judgement upon her clothes/hair/smile. She is just too happy! In a world so obsessed with misery, a world desperate to prove that the nicest person is a fraud, Poppy stands alone. We expect Leigh to throw her into a trauma that shatters her complacency (as in Vera Drake or Secrets and Lies [1996]). This is not that movie. This is still the grey world we witnessed in Naked (1993), and the story itself resembles the single character focus of that film, but Poppy stands against all that. When confronted by her envious sister, a distressed tramp or her catatonic driving instructor, Poppy always has something clever, witty and wise to say in return. Our initial suspicion of her joy is finally replaced by respect and a desire to take away with us a small part of her delightful personality.
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