The British director Mike Leigh is one of the most quintessential British filmmakers. His style consists of improvisations, and the film’s shooting focuses on the natural reactions and emotions of his actor’s reminiscing of the theatrical approach to acting. His realistic approach offers a deep connection between the public and the people portrayed in the stories. Leigh’s dramas borrow from daily life and its potential for tragic content to achieve a dramatic effect. Twenty-eight years after his majestic Palme d’Or winner, Secrets & Lies, Leigh reunites with Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Michele Austin in his latest, Hard Truths. His latest effort also marks the last film of his lifetime partnership with the legendary cinematographer Dick Pope, who shot eleven of Leigh’s films and unfortunately passed away in October 2024. Leigh focuses on telling a familiar drama surrounding the trauma, pains, and neurotic thoughts of Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste). She is a woman in her late fifties who is a germaphobe and hypochondriac. Pansy is known for her sincerity and rudeness towards people, even her family.
Mike Leigh narrates Pansy’s neuroses and how her behaviors affect every other family member. Her twenty-two-year-old son, Moses (Tuwaine Barrett), is a depressed man who spends most of his time in his room and only leaves for a brief walk, where he finally is free of his mother’s temperament. Curtley (David Webber) is a plumber who owns a house restoration business and spends most of his time outside – even at home, in his yard’s workshop. Most of his actions and words upset Pansy, who cannot stand him or Moses. She believes their actions are intentional to bother her and worsen her phobias. The balance in her life is her sister, Chantelle (Michele Austin), who has enough patience to deal with her sister’s bitterness towards life.
The director establishes a routine of actions where Pansy argues with everyone she interacts with: the cashier, dentist, doctor, and people standing in line in the grocery store. Anyone’s looks or words towards her triggers her rage and generates altercations. It creates a nuanced character whose actions are irrational to the viewer. The public asks itself half the length of the motives and backgrounds of her formation, which led her to the ressentiment of living. In this sense, Mike Leigh and editor Tania Reddin do not rush the film to provide answers. Reddin paces the actions in cuts that benefit the emotional performance of its cast. There is a differentiation between the scenes where Pansy’s anger is the primary emotion in her core and when the melancholy and pain lead her actions. Her angry moments follow wide-open compositions that allow Jean-Baptiste to rage against the world. However, when there is room for melancholy, Leigh prioritizes close-ups, and the camera is nearer to the frame. The camera blocking consists primarily of the actor’s countenances, rarely featuring objects in the first frame.
The film contradicts the structure of an uncomplicated effort by providing a sophisticated construction of its production and costume designs. Suzie Davies, the production designer, presents the dichotomy of the sisters by the complete differentiation of their houses. Pansy lives in a large and comfortable home, but her manias trap her inside the superficial comfort of the concrete. Even with a smaller space, Chantelle lives on the top of a flat building, which is an immaculate conceit to how Pansy can only slowly achieve happiness there by climbing stairs once her germophobia holds her back. If Leigh’s screenplay seems straightforward, the crew and its directing add layers to the subtext present in the film. The same applies to Jacqueline Durran’s costume design, which wears Jean-Baptiste in designer clothes, such as Versace, only to expose the lack of humanity value. Everything about Pansy is contradictory, and the costume designer’s work highlights the intricate construction of this story.
Lastly, Marianne Jean-Baptiste delivers an unbearable character who never falls into the one-note territory. Her reactions and expressions are rich in meaning. She is resentful, but a vulnerable woman appears behind that shell of wrath. The complexity of Pansy comes from an expressive work by Jean-Baptiste. She can shift her body language naturally, changing the significance of each conversation. The anger in Pansy unexpectedly escalates as she interacts with other human beings, and Jean-Baptiste never loses track of the trait of that character. Pansy is such a complex person that her rants allow tense moments of venting to transform into genuine comical moments, and each conversation she engages in is unpredictable. It is a layered and impressive performance by an actor who has not had enough opportunities to display her greatness after her Academy Award-nominated performance in Secrets & Lies. However, the film showcases her talent and versatility in delivering a complex portrayal of a flawed woman.
Mike Leigh returns six years after his historical Peterloo, to the roots of his realistic and theatrical-inspired films. A masterful work by a talented crew and a brilliant cast led by a tour-de-force acting by Marianne Jean-Baptiste delivers another inspired film by the British master.
Hard Truths is now available on digital and demand.
Learn more about the film at the official site for the title.
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