European Films

"Enormous crowd-pleaser" and "directed by Mike Leigh" were not phrases this critic ever thought he would be putting together in the same sentence, but Leigh’s Berlinale Competition title Happy-Go-Lucky is exactly that. The UK director’s colourful portrait of a 30-year-old girl whose picture would suffice as Wikipedia’s entries on optimism and positivity is his most accessible film to date, though it is still quite far from a conventional popcorn picture, with no real narrative to speak of and no stars. Nevertheless, the high density of laugh-out-loud moments and countless chuckles will have even the most mainstream filmgoer queue up for Leigh's follow-up to the abortion drama Vera Drake. Happy-Go-Lucky is  one of the most acclaimed Competition titles here at the Berlin Film Festival so far, which is impressive for a hilarious but largely inconsequential comedy.

 

Leigh’s famous improvisational method that relies heavily on the actors to create their characters again works wonders here, with not a false note to be found in its large cast. Leigh drifts from one situation to the other as protagonist Poppy (Sally Hawkings), a primary school teacher, gets on with her north London life that includes fun nights out with her friends, endless chats with her cynical-yet-lovable flatmate Zoe (Alexis Zegerman), the necessary driving lessons with wound-up driving instructor Scott (Eddie Marsan, who also co-starred with Hawkins in Vera Drake), bullying among kids in her class and various sports that make her back hurt so that she needs to go to and get it

The funniest sequence by far in this constantly funny movie is when Poppy joins her boss (Sylvestra Le Touzel) for an eventful flamenco class given by a fiery dance instructor (Karina Fernandez, in a comedic gem of a supporting role). More serious drama, such as the personality clash between Poppy and Scott is also laced with humour. The delicate balance between the two characters is a difficult one to maintain but Hawkins and Marsan pull it off with grace; the actors make it perfectly clear why Scott is irritated by Poppy’s never-ending good cheer without making Poppy’s character irritating for the audience.

At two hours the film flies by, with only a drawn-out encounter with a tramp slowing down the procession of largely unconnected scenes that still feel like an organic whole. Nevertheless, the film is light on emotional investment in the characters. Poppy might be the perfect spokeswoman for positivity, she lacks credibility as nothing bad seems to be able to get her down. When her bike is stolen, the only result is that she decides to take driving lessons. The absence of a man in her life does not seem to worry her in the slightest, but when he does show up she is equally happy, which begs the question whether she really is happy or rather just indifferent behind a happy-go-lucky mask. 

 

The dramatic comedy harks back to Leigh’s origins as a serio-comic television playwright in the mid-seventies, and, though the film was shot in widescreen (a first for the director), it never amounts to anything more than a colourful working-class tale that would do equally well on television. What will make it a hit in cinemas is its hilarious sense of humour, which should spread positive word-of-mouth like wildfire.

 

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