Happy-Go-Lucky Page #4

Synopsis: Poppy Cross is happy-go-lucky. At 30, she lives in Camden: cheeky, playful, frank while funny, and talkative to strangers. She's a conscientious and exuberant primary-school teacher, flatmates with Zoe, her long-time friend; she's close to one sister, and not so close to another. In this slice of life story, we watch her take driving lessons from Scott, a dour and tightly-wound instructor, take classes in flamenco dance from a fiery Spaniard, encounter a tramp in the night, and sort out a student's aggressive behavior with a social worker's help. Along the way, we wonder if her open attitude puts her at risk of misunderstanding or worse. What is the root of happiness?
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Director(s): Mike Leigh
Production: Miramax Films
  Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 39 wins & 59 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.0
Metacritic:
84
Rotten Tomatoes:
92%
R
Year:
2008
118 min
$3,494,485
Website
531 Views


OK? Breathe in. And...

Oh. Wait a minute.

OK. Are you ready?

Yeah.

OK, breathe in...

- OK.|- And release.

Oh, hoochy coochy ga-la!

OK. Just relax for me.

Didn't know you were going to do that.

Ooh.

Just relax and breathe normally.

OK, would you like to sit up for me?

Yeah.

Will this be a regular occurrence,|chopping and changing?

- Sorry, Scott. Something came up.|- I've got a life too, you know.

- I had to make an appointment.|- Isn't this an appointment?

I couldn't help it.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Sounds like fun.

Having a bad day, are you?

- I had a bad pupil this morning.|- Oh, no, what did he do?

He was late, he refused to pay his money.

He slammed the door and swore at me.

- You shout at him, did you?|- I drove off, I'm not teaching him again.

- You show him.|- He's rude, he's arrogant,

he's overconfident and he's too street.

You don't like that.

He's been overindulged|and encouraged to express himself.

Express himself! Chop his hands off!

Do you know what it means when they do that?

- Go on.|- How little do they know.

How little do their mothers know.

And they smell.

It's not easy being you, is it? Eh?

Fancy meeting you here, hey?

You don't have to laugh, I'll let you off.

OK, gently, gently, gently, gently.

- Steady progression.|- Sorry.

Take your foot off the brake.|There's no need to put your foot on the brake.

- Do you know what's doing that?|- What is doing that?

- Your boots. Your boots are doing that.|- No, I was taking my time.

- I panicked.|- Your boots, they're inappropriate.

OK, on.

Poppy, come on.|Let's pick up some speed. OK?

- Don't shout at me, Scott.|- Well, don't dilly dally, let's just go. OK.

- I'm just learning.|- Next left-hand turn. OK?

- You panic me.|- So, mirror, signal, manoeuvre.

- Gets me right there.|- Enrahah, Enrahah.

Both hands on the wheel, Enrahah. Enrahah.

I don't like that, gives me the creeps.

OK, Poppy. Indicate. Mirror, signal, manoeuvre.

- Indicate.|- Signal, OK.

- How am I doing?|- Foot down on the brake. Clutch.

You don't want to stall. OK, find your biting point|and peep and creep.

- First gear. Peep and creep.|- First gear.

- Peep and creep.|- Peeping and a-creeping.

- When you get to the end of the road...|- Ooh, he's nice.

When we get to the end of the road...|Can you please focus on the driving?

Enrahah, Enrahah.

- Enrahah. OK!|- I... That's a bit weird.

Foot on the brake, clutch. You don't want to stall.

Find your bite.|Can you feel you're slightly on a hill?

- No.|- OK, put the hand brake on.

Find your biting point.|OK, lock your door. Lock your door.

- Don't be ridiculous.|- Poppy, there's two of them.

- Are you taking the piss?|- Lock your door.

- OK, let's go. Let's go, Poppy, let's go.|- I don't believe you just said that.

Let's go. On you go. On you go.

- Let's go that way.|- Poppy! Poppy, let's go!

- We're on a bend. Now, let's go.|- Blimey, O'Reilly.

Right, on you go. Keep to the left|of the centre of the road.

Usual time next week? 12 o'clock?|You can check it if you like.

See you.

Cheerio.

All right, doggie?

Here's another one.|- Yeah.

Circle, completely red.

What? Like a tomato?

For instance. White horizontal line.

Give us a clue, Zoe.

Horizontal, parallel to the horizon.

Thank you, Miss Marsh.

- You're welcome.|- So, it's not... up and down like a yoyo.

- No.|- Right.

- What is it?|- Vertical.

- No, you muppet, the sign.|- That'd be "no entry".

- For what?|- For black boys on bicycles.

- Don't get me started on that again.|- It just popped out of his mouth.

- You can always get another instructor.|- Yeah, I know. See how it goes, eh?

- Ask me another.|- This is also a red circle.

- Yeah.|- Black car - this isn't a racist thing.

- Glad to hear it.|- Next to the black car is a red car.

That's Mr Golly overtaking Noddy.

- Enrahah.|- Enrahah to you.

- What is it?|- No overtaking.

- Enrahah.|- Enrahah-ha-ha!

- He sounds like a nutter.|- He is a nutter.

- How's your back?|- It's all right, actually. He sorted it.

Magic fingers. He was sweet, wasn't he?

He was fit.

Octagonal sign with "stop" written in it.

- Stop!|- All right, then.

Who's going to blink first?

- Do you want a cup of tea?|- Yes, please.

No, you have the lasagna tonight.|We can finish the chicken tomorrow.

Look, I can't talk now. See you later.

- Do you think we'll make it?|- Depends on the traffic.

Should be all right. Ooh, that's my back!

Hey, come in, ladies, as quick as you can.

Do want to put your bags,|and there's a couple of places.

- Sorry we're late.|- Sorry.

No problem, it's very Spanish to be late.|Take your places. Then we can start.

Here.

I was just introducing myself|to the peoples what don't know me.

It's lovely to see you again|and lovely you bring a friend.

Welcome in my class.

So, my name is Rositta Santos|and I'm coming from Sevilla in Spain.

Or Seville, what you say here.

What is famous for our bullfighting,|our beautiful oranges -

what your English peoples|turn into disgusting marmalade.

Are you going to keep|those sunglasses on, then?

And also is the birth home of flamenco.

Sorry.

Then everybody is ready... I hope.

So, feet in parallel. Hip distance apart.

Pulling up from the waist.|Opening across the chest.

Shoulder blades drawing down to the spine.

Arms relaxed.

And taking the head over to your right.

Feeling that lovely stretch at the neck.

Then to the left.

Not very flamenco, is it?

To the right.

Bringing the head back to the centre.

And relax. Lovely.

So, guys. We're going to reverse the abs now.

Right foot in front.

Lifting up from the elbows|like they got strings attached.

Like little Pinocchio.

Lifting, lifting.

Keeping the shoulders down.|Arms above the head.

Framing the face. Here I am...proud.

Then bringing the arms down in front.|Pressing, pressing, pressing.

Keeping the tension,|keeping the strength, but fluid as well.

Then lifting up again from the elbows.|Like the eagle spreading his wings.

Beautiful, angry, ferocious.

And, guys, when you're lifting up|your eagle wings,

remember that this dance comes from the pain,|from the suffering

of los gitanos...

erm... what you say, "the gypsies".

I know this word not politically correct,

but these guys,|they been squashed down by society

for centuries, centuries, and they say,

"We don't need this. We got pride.

We got dignity.

We got heart. We got flamenco."

They say, "This... my space."

My space.

My space.

My space. Everybody... do this. One, two.

My space.

- And again.|- My space!

- Vamos! Vamos!|- My space!

- And again.|- My space!

- Vamos, vamos.|- My space!

- With meaning.|- My space!

But, guys.

My space!

- One more time.|- My space!

- With expression.|- My space!

- I don't believe it.|- My space!

OK, guys. I'll give you two counts in.

Then we're going to stamp|and clap the comps, OK?

Uno, dos.

Guys, guys, guys. What are you doing?

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Mike Leigh

Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English writer and director of film and theatre. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) before honing his directing skills at East 15 Acting School and further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid-1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s his career moved between theatre work and making films for BBC Television, many of which were characterised by a gritty "kitchen sink realism" style. His well-known films include the comedy-dramas Life is Sweet (1990) and Career Girls (1997), the Gilbert and Sullivan biographical film Topsy-Turvy (1999), and the bleak working-class drama All or Nothing (2002). His most notable works are the black comedy-drama Naked (1993), for which he won the Best Director Award at Cannes, the Oscar-nominated, BAFTA and Palme d'Or-winning drama Secrets & Lies (1996), the Golden Lion winning working-class drama Vera Drake (2004), and the Palme d'Or nominated biopic Mr. Turner (2014). Some of his notable stage plays include Smelling A Rat, It's A Great Big Shame, Greek Tragedy, Goose-Pimples, Ecstasy, and Abigail's Party.Leigh is known for his lengthy rehearsal and improvisation techniques with actors to build characters and narrative for his films. His purpose is to capture reality and present "emotional, subjective, intuitive, instinctive, vulnerable films." His aesthetic has been compared to the sensibility of the Japanese director Yasujirō Ozu. His films and stage plays, according to critic Michael Coveney, "comprise a distinctive, homogenous body of work which stands comparison with anyone's in the British theatre and cinema over the same period." Coveney further noted Leigh's role in helping to create stars – Liz Smith in Hard Labour, Alison Steadman in Abigail's Party, Brenda Blethyn in Grown-Ups, Antony Sher in Goose-Pimples, Gary Oldman and Tim Roth in Meantime, Jane Horrocks in Life is Sweet, David Thewlis in Naked—and remarked that the list of actors who have worked with him over the years—including Paul Jesson, Phil Daniels, Lindsay Duncan, Lesley Sharp, Kathy Burke, Stephen Rea, Julie Walters – "comprises an impressive, almost representative, nucleus of outstanding British acting talent." Ian Buruma, writing in The New York Review of Books in January 1994, noted: "It is hard to get on a London bus or listen to the people at the next table in a cafeteria without thinking of Mike Leigh. Like other wholly original artists, he has staked out his own territory. Leigh's London is as distinctive as Fellini's Rome or Ozu's Tokyo." more…

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