Mike Leigh

Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an award winning British film and theatre director. He was brought up in a Jewish family (the surname was changed from Lieberman before his birth). His father was a doctor in an overwhelmingly working-class area of Salford (near Manchester). He has made a number of films, usually choosing "down to earth" subjects and subject matter. His films are usually set in London.

Related Topics:
20 February - 1943 - Award - British - Film - Theatre director - Jewish - Salford - Film - London

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He has won several prizes at major European film festivals. Most notably he won the Best Director award at Cannes for Naked in 1993 and the Palme d'Or in 1996 for Secrets & Lies.

Related Topics:
Cannes - Naked - 1993 - Palme d'Or - 1996 - Secrets & Lies

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He won the Leone d'Oro for the best film at the International Venice Film Festival in 2004 with Vera Drake. The film gained him a 2005 Academy Award nomination for direction.

Related Topics:
Venice Film Festival - 2004 - Vera Drake - Academy Award - Direction

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Earlier plays such as Nuts in May and Abigail's Party tended more towards bleakly yet humourously satirising middle-class manners and attitudes, while later films such as Naked and Vera Drake are somewhat starker, more brutal, and concentrate more on the working-class. A commitment to realism and humanism however is evident throughout.

Related Topics:
Nuts in May - Abigail's Party - Middle-class - Naked - Vera Drake - Working-class - Realism - Humanism

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Mike Leigh uses lengthy improvisations developed over a period of weeks to build characters and storylines for his films. He starts with some sketch ideas of how he thinks things might develop, but does not reveal all his intentions with the cast who discover their fate and act out their responses as their destinies are gradually revealed.

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Initial preparation is in private with the director and then the actors are introduced to each other in the order that their characters would have met in their lives. Intimate moments are explored that will not even be referred to in the final film to build insight and understanding of history, character and inner motivation. The critical scenes in the eventual story are performed and recorded in full-costumed, real-time improvisations where the actors encounter for the first time new characters, events or information which may dramatically affect their character's lives.

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Final filming is more traditional as definite sense of story, action and dialogue is then in place. The director reminds the cast of material from the improvisations that he hopes to capture on film.

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In 2005, Leigh returned to directing for the stage after many years absence with his new play Two Thousand Years. The play deals with the divisions within a left-wing secular Jewish family when one of the younger members finds religion. It is the first time Leigh has drawn on his Jewish background for inspiration.

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