Happy-Go-Lucky Page #9

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
554 Views


It's just my face.

Thanks for the barbecue, Helen. Jamie.

- Anytime.|- It was gorgeous.

Thanks.

We'll go for a walk by the sea tomorrow.|It'll be lovely.

Be nice.

Move your arse.

Flap, flap, flap!

Careful, Poppy.|I'm worried about you in those shoes.

- Don't worry. They're not too high.|- Poppy, come off the wall.

Give us a piggy back?

Suzy, don't do that. Don't. Stop it.

You should have told me,|I wouldn't have got on your back.

I'm all right. How are you? Good weekend?

Oh, heavy night last night, was it?

That's what I like to hear. Good boy.

So, do you fancy going out sometime, then?

How's Friday looking for you?|Think you can squeeze me in?

Oh, go on, then. I don't drink.

But...

Yeah, maybe just the one.

Yeah, something like that.

All right, then.|See you then, then, then, then, then.

All right. See you, sailor. Bye.

Scott!

Suzy, wind your sister's window up.

What was that all about, then?

Search me.

Bit weird.

Isn't it just?

- Gives me the creeps, to be honest.|- Yeah.

So, what are we doing for tea, then?

- Takeaway. What do you reckon?|- Chinese?

Oh, hello, look who's here. Little piglet.

- Are you paying?|- No.

- Course she's not.|- Don't worry, we'll take care of it.

- Mum and Dad.|- Which one am I?

- Dad, of course.|- I hate being Dad.

- You love it.|- Oh, get off, Poppy.

It's a beautiful sky.

There you go.

Thanks.

So where were we?

What brings you here?

- I met a girl.|- Oh, very nice.

- Yeah.|- What's she like, then?

- I can't talk about it.|- Why not?

- It's a secret.|- I'm good with secrets.

- It's between me and her, though.|- Oh, fair enough. I won't pry.

- Who is she?|- I couldn't possibly.

Trust me.

She's a teacher.

- Is she?|- She's gorgeous.

Oh... I hate her already.

Haven't you got lovely eyes?

- Thanks.|- Beautiful colour.

- Really?|- Yeah.

Picked them myself.

- Did you?|- Yeah.

- Where from?|- Down the market.

- You're joking me?|- No.

I'd say you got yourself a bargain there.

- You've got one as well.|- Have I? Just the one? Which one?

- That one.|- This one?

- Particularly lovely, is he?|- He is.

But don't upset the other one.

- No, she's all right.|- Is she?

- Yeah, we've had a chat about it.|- Oh, good.

Yeah, she's over the worst now.|Yeah, anyway she's got other talents.

- Has she?|- Yeah.

- What are they?|- So many.

- She can juggle.|- Obviously.

Yeah, goes without saying.|She can wink on demand.

- Really?|- Oh, yeah.

- Let's see.|- Are you sure?

- Yeah.|- It's pretty spooky.

- Go on.|- OK, are you ready?

Yeah.

She is good!

- This one tries to join in.|- Don't let him.

I won't. Anyway, he's lovely, so...

- Well, she's lovely, too.|- Don't try and claw your way out of it.

- Sorry.|- It's all right.

- Cheers.|- Cheers.

Again.

This is nice.

It is nice.

Here we are.

Wow.

Welcome to my humble abode.

Thank you.

- Aren't you high up?|- Yeah.

Yeah. What's it like up there?

Hm. It's OK.

That's better.

- I think you must be too hot.|- Yeah, it does feel hot.

Yeah, I thought so.

Usually right.

- Though it's not really my job.|- No, you're very good at it.

I know.

Hidden talents.

Oh, wow.

Now, that's what I call a bargain.

- Yeah?|- Yeah.

One, two, three.

- I'm a bit hot, too.|- Yeah?

Yeah.

- Maybe this'll help.|- I think you might be right.

- What about if this...|- Oh, yeah, and that one. Go on, then.

OK.

Ooh, I quite like it like that.

- Oh!|- Lovely.

- What's it like in there?|- Oh, not bad.

I'll go and make that tea.

Great.

Going to be late for my lesson.|Hey-ho. There you go.

- I'll give you a lift.|- Will you?

- Yeah.|- Oh!

- Means I keep you for longer.|- Thank you very much.

It's OK.

- So when you coming back to school?|- Oh. Next week.

- I'll see how things go with his mum.|- Yeah, he'll be all right.

He'll be fine.

Hello.

Hi.

Are you happy... in your life?

That's a big question.

Isn't it just?

- So, you play football, then?|- Yeah, five-a-side every week.

- Right. Is that indoors or outdoors?|- No, outdoors.

- Oh, here she is.|- Made it. Just.

- Why aren't you wearing any jewellery?|- Oh, it's that kind of day.

So, you doing anything tonight?

Yeah, it's a mate's 30th.|We're all meeting in a bar.

- Great.|- What are you two up to?

- Oh, cinema.|- Yeah, see a film.

- Popcorn...|- Sit in the dark, hold hands.

Yeah, no necking.

She's only saying that cos you're here.

Normally I'm all over her like a rash.

- I don't blame you.|- He's a right smoothie.

Isn't he just?

- Here he is.|- Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.|- Nice to meet you, Zoe.

- Yeah, whatever.|- Have a good time tonight.

Come on, you.

Hiya, Scott. This is Tim.|He's coming with us today.

- Just joking.|- Hi.

- Ooh, can't win them all.|- Apparently not.

- See you later.|- I'll call you.

- Will you?|- Yeah.

Good.

What happened on Sunday, Scott?|You should've stopped to say hello.

I don't know what you're talking about.|I was in Stevenage on Sunday.

Stevenage? Funny, you must have a twin.

I was there all day. I was looking after|my mum. My aunt's dying.

- I'm sorry to hear that.|- It's all right.

- Don't believe you, Scott.|- It's up to you, I was there till midnight.

Don't think so, gigolo.

Concentrate, Poppy.|Concentrate. Watch what I'm doing.

Now I'm going to indicate. I keep in lane.|In a roundabout, you keep in lane.

OK? You keep in lane, all right?

You take responsibility for other drivers|and for yourself and you keep in lane, OK?

This is a roundabout. Concentrate,|pay attention. Good. Thank you.

Are you... Was that a request|or was that a demand?

Did he bully me then? Did he just shove in then?

- Or did he ask?|- Did he?

No, he didn't ask.|You see what roundabouts do?

Roundabouts, if you keep in lane|and you keep going, you'll be fine.

You're following rules and keeping|everything the way it should be.

Everything in check.

But if you get selfish and if you|step out of it, then it goes wrong.

And it gets dangerous.|Do you see what I mean?

Waa-aaah...

I'm not waiting for somebody|who can't keep in lane on a roundabout.

I'm not waiting.

Everywhere you see, look at the cameras.

Everywhere you go, they're watching you.

They're seeing you. They're watching.|Everywhere you go.

Look at this place, it stinks.|Come on. What are you waiting for?

- All right.|- Jesus Christ! Look, another camera...

Speed camera. Why do you need them?

There's two guys at the back of the road|selling drugs

and you have a speed camera.|Why do you need a speed camera?

You can wait.

- You can wait!|- Easy.

Come on! Drive the car.

You're not driving a camel.|OK? This is not a bazaar.

We have rules in this country.|We have regulations. Keep to them.

F***ing morons!

Check your mirrors, your seat,|make yourself comfortable.

- No, I don't think so.|- Seat belt on.

- I'm not going anywhere.|- What do you mean?

You are in no fit state to take this lesson.

I am the instructor. You are the pupil.

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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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