Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh OBEis an English writer and director of film and theatre. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Artbefore 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...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth20 February 1943
funny morning night
Resolve was never stronger than in the morning, after the night, when it was never weaker
worry political care
I hope I make films where you walk away . . . with work to do, arguments to have, things to worry about, things to care about. In that sense, I would regard what I do as political.
consciousness awareness constant
There's a constant drip and trickle of life that goes into one's awareness really and consciousness of things.
perspective pressure good-things
The good thing from my perspective is that nobody puts any pressure on me to say what it's going to be. The backers accept that they don't know what they are going to get.
obsession creeps millions
It creeps up on you and becomes an obsession. It comes out of watching a million movies.
cutting guy feelings
I do not make films which are prescriptive, and I do not make films that are conclusive. You do not walk out of my films with a clear feeling about what is right and wrong. They're ambivalent. You walk away with work to do. My films are a sort of investigation. They ask questions . . .. Sometimes I hear that some [Hollywood] studio is interested in me. Then they discover that this is the guy who works with no script, that there is no casting discussion, no interference, that I have the final cut, and that does it.
film snooping should
But films should be voyeuristic. What else is a film if you're not snooping into somebody else's lives?
israel events given
Given the events of even the 19th century, Zionism was inevitable. Given the events of the 20th century, Israel was inevitable.
long cameras film
You will find hardly any improvising on camera anywhere in my films. It's very structured, but it's all worked out from elaborate improvisations over a long period, as you know.
independent independent-filmmaking forgotten
Independent filmmaking has always been there and it's not to be forgotten.
actors directors cry
There are plenty of bad actors and there are plenty of bad directors. There are actors who will always be bad and there are good actors who you cry for because they're being badly directed or the material isn't good enough.
country independent odds
There is a great tradition of independent filmmaking in the U.S. that I absolutely respect. There's some wonderful stuff that comes out in this country against all the odds.
world cinema british
I am very happy to be part of European and world cinema as a British filmmaker.
hollywood directors film
The main problem is that the Hollywood system has already made the film before the director shoots a single frame.