Perth Voice Interactive

EIGHTY-one-year-old British film maker Mike Leigh is back with another of his slice-of-working class-life films. 

With 23 films under his belt and numerous awards to his name, in Hard Truths he works with some of his favourite actors, his long-time cinematographer and familiar musical director.

In his long-established manner, the project was built by workshopping the basic storyline with the actors over a long period and then writing the script from what resulted. 

It is the actors who mould the characters and Leigh’s scripts leave plenty of space for the cast to improvise when in front of the camera.

For those enamoured of his gritty yet compassionate style, Hard Truths is a treat. 

For those who prefer a conventional narrative style leading to a tidy emotional conclusion, this film is more challenging.

The heart of the movie is an astonishing performance by Marianne Jean-Baptiste as the seriously depressed Pansy. 

Sad, angry and lonely, she spends long periods of each day sleeping but violently wakes in fright when disturbed. 

Her human interactions are soured by her terrible temper. 

All those close to her are quelled by her sharp tongue and strangers on the street are not spared. 

There are hilarious moments where the audience simply gasps at the audaciousness of her verbal assaults on unfortunate, random people who brush by her.

Is it possible to have empathy for such a person, let alone love them? 

That is the hopeless predicament, the hard truth faced by every person in Pansy’s family. 

Through stark close ups and gripping acting the audience is similarly challenged to search for its own capacity for pity.

Leigh and the cast don’t flinch from exposing the terrible cost of Pansy’s alienation. 

There is tremendous acting on display here and fine film making. 

Slowly, through what is both said and left unsaid, the film reveals glimmers of the deep fear that she is protecting with her fury. 

But while the exposed pain is unsettling, Leigh the storyteller only allows flickers of its causes to be explained. 

Ultimately this is a movie that viewers will talk about for hours afterwards, teasing out the motivations of the characters who are so heartbreakingly believable on the screen.

Hard Truths
British Film Festival
November 6 – December 8
Luna Leederville
Check lunapalace.com.au for session times

by BARRY HEALY