Mike Leigh

Mike Leigh

  • Birthday: 1943-02-20
  • Place of birth: Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK
  • Also know as: 마이크 리

Biography

Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE (born 20 February 1943) is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied 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 work for the theatre and making films for BBC Television, many of which were characterized by a gritty "kitchen sink realism" style. His well-known films include Life is Sweet (1990), the comedy-drama Career Girls (1997), the Gilbert and Sullivan biopic Topsy Turvy (1999), and the bleak working-class drama All or Nothing (2002). His most notable works are arguably Naked (1993) for which he won the Best Director Award at Cannes, the BAFTA-winning (and Oscar-nominated) Palme d'Or winner Secrets & Lies (1996) and Golden Lion winner Vera Drake (2004). His films and stage plays, according to the 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 Sheila Kelley, Paul Jesson, Phil Daniels, Lindsay Duncan, Lesley Sharp, Kathy Burke, Stephen Rea, Eric Richard, 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." Description above from the Wikipedia article Mike Leigh, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography

Production

Happy-Go-Lucky

2008

As Director

Vera Drake

2004

As Director

Secrets & Lies

1996

As Director

Naked

1993

As Director

Abigail's Party

1977

As Director

All or Nothing

2002

As Director

Life Is Sweet

1990

As Director

A Sense of History

1992

As Director

Another Year

2010

As Director

Topsy-Turvy

1999

As Director

High Hopes

1989

As Director

The Short & Curlies

1987

As Director

Career Girls

1997

As Director

Meantime

1983

As Director

Bleak Moments

1971

As Director

A Running Jump

2012

As Director

A Light Snack

1982

As Director

Old Chums

1982

As Director

Probation

1982

As Director

Afternoon

1982

As Director

The Permissive Society

1975

As Director

Grown-Ups

1980

As Director

Four Days in July

1984

As Director

Who's Who

1979

As Director

The Kiss of Death

1977

As Director

Mr. Turner

2014

As Director

Nuts in May

1976

As Director

Home Sweet Home

1982

As Director

Peterloo

2018

As Director

Hard Labour

1973

As Director

A Mug's Game?

1973

As Director

Hard Truths

0000

As Director

Happy-Go-Lucky

2008

As Screenplay

Vera Drake

2004

As Writer

Secrets & Lies

1996

As Writer

Naked

1993

As Writer

All or Nothing

2002

As Writer

Life Is Sweet

1990

As Writer

Another Year

2010

As Writer

Topsy-Turvy

1999

As Writer

High Hopes

1989

As Writer

Career Girls

1997

As Writer

Meantime

1983

As Writer

Nuts in May

1976

As Writer

The Kiss of Death

1977

As Writer

Abigail's Party

1977

As Writer

Bleak Moments

1971

As Writer

Afternoon

1982

As Writer

Old Chums

1982

As Writer

Probation

1982

As Writer

A Light Snack

1982

As Writer

The Short & Curlies

1987

As Writer

Peterloo

2018

As Writer

Hard Labour

1973

As Writer

Mr. Turner

2014

As Writer

A Running Jump

2012

As Writer

Who's Who

1979

As Writer

Grown-Ups

1980

As Writer

Four Days in July

1984

As Writer

The Permissive Society

1975

As Writer

Home Sweet Home

1982

As Writer

A Mug's Game?

1973

As Writer

The Party

2009

As Writer

Hard Truths

0000

As Writer

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