MIKE LEIGH
His films "The High Hopes" and "the Full Monty" asses the impact of consumer society on
family life. He highlights erosion of the welfare state and the consensus that built it. Films such
as "Life is Sweet", "Naked" and "Secrets of Lies" explore the fractures in domestic and social life
wrought by divisive Thatcherite policies in an increasingly fragmented and multicultural Britain.
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In 166/67 he found himself working as an assisstant director with the Royal Shakespeare
Company, wokring with Peter Hall. This was early on in his career. In the 1970s, he began
making 9 TV plays that showed the banality of society.
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In 1985, Leigh took a break from film making due to the death of his father which led to him
travelling from Austrailia (where he was at the time of his father's death) to Bali, Singapore,
Hong Kong and China. This acted as an easy way for him to find himself and realise that he
wanted to create a feature film such as "High Hopes".
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He has won and been nominated for an impressive range of awards such as Best Director (at
Cannes Film Festival)and nominated for Academy Awards several times.
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He is skilled in his improvisation style where many of his actors improvise their characters and scenes on the spot with the use of a general prompr or stimulus, in order to keep the film realistic.
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