Hohe Erwartungen

Of course the marketing people hype every movie like it's a cross between "Titanic" and "Wedding Crashers" but there is such a thing as a small lovely film and "High Hopes" is it. It's a comedy but nobody passes gas or accidentally drinks urine, so it's a cut above any comedy produced in the U.S. during the last thirty years. It's just about people, working class people in London trying to get by. But its got a good heart and the smiles it provides will stick with you longer than the brain-dead belly laughs strained over in Hollywood comedies. It just feels like real life. The actors don't seem to be acting. And you end up pretty hopeful regarding the human condition.

The paragraph describing this film said it was about a group of people who come together when Mum locks herself out. This is misleading as that is only a small part of the film , there is much more to it than that, I saw this film as part of a Mike Leigh feature on TV.

I straight away recognised Philip Davis who also stared in Mike Leigh's 'Grown Ups' even though it was 20 years earlier that I had seen that. He looked very similar but his character, Cyril was much better tempered than Dick had been. Cyril and his partner Shirley are the only ones who seem to care about poor old Mum. They are also kind hearted enough to help out a stranger who was lost and confused. Her other daughter Valarie appears to care more about her dog and her own life. The toffee nosed couple next door would rather leave the poor old women standing out in the cold when she locks herself out and don't want anyone to get in the way of their life.

This film lets us see that having money doesn't always mean happiness. Cyril and Shirley are much more contented than their richer neighbours and sister. They are also much less selfish. I would rather have them any day

Released in 1988, this is Mike Leigh's (director of Vera Drake) sublime comedy which examines the social climate of 1980s London.

I really liked this film, it centres on one extended family living in London during the Thatcher years. Cyril is a Marxist, who does despite his strong values and views chooses not to act on them, giving the world up for a hopeless cause. His partner, Shirley, desperately wants a baby, despite Cyril's strong views that the world is already "over-populated". Living in the last council house on a now yuppie infested road is Cyril's mum. A member of the generation who has been forgotten, she is slowly losing her marbles, much to the distaste of her neighbours. And as for Cyril's sister, Valerie, who lives in the social climbing climate of the middle class, she has seemingly to forgotten her roots and family ties, no doubt due to her excessive drinking of cheap champagne and her leeching husband.

This film is a brilliant gem of 1980s British cinema, despite its clear socialist values (it's cartoonish portrayal of the rich and yuppie somewhat softens the blow of its left wing message), it brings up so many interesting questions in an intelligent manner, portraying all its characters from a variety of angles and political stances, its hard not to like Cyril, but when he criticises a young 'active' Marxist follower for planning to open a market stall, he is shown to be hypocritical.

Leigh' doesn't just direct, but also write, and the script is water tight. It is extremely witty, just full of emotion and very down to earth.

This film is a very good snap shot of life in a variety of social situations and views in the churning world of the 1980s as the capitalistic London really began to boom. It is a flick that will not doubt have you smiling from cheek to cheek, yet also leave you feeling emotionally vulnerable and self-questioning.

This is early Mike Leigh before he achieved that perfect balance in tone between critical and affectionate that distinctly marks his best films. Consequently, while there are wonderfully observed sad and funny bits (like the visit to Karl Marx's grave and the way the Marxist couple treats the lost waif in search of his mom) the main set pieces soon descend into undue caricature (the Yuppie couple in the gentrified housing block) or nastiness (the mom's 70th b-day party). Give it a B minus if only for Ruth Sheen's warm hearted performance that would foreshadow Alison Steadman in the later, better "Life Is Sweet".

A seemingly quaint period piece that articulates eternal issues. All the characters are so real I wondered if they were based on people I know, as I lived near to kings cross at that time. I now realise these characters are modern archetypes. Did mike Leigh invent the archetypes? The film making itself is so understated that I wondered if I was watching reality TV! The device of the opening character , to lead us into the lives of these characters is a stroke of genius! I always approach Leighs films thinking 'worthy but boring', but time and again he has me crying and laughing and everything in-between. This film will only get better with time.