The One and Only Mike Leigh

In a revealing documentary, Mike Leigh, director of Secrets & Lies, Vera Drake and Abigail's Party among many others, talks to Alan Yentob about a unique body of work and a lifelong struggle to make films on his own terms. On day one of a Mike Leigh film, there is no script, no story and the actors do not know if they will even be in the final film. It is a process that has yielded some of cinema's most celebrated performances, and Leigh's new film Mr Turner is already winning critical acclaim. Actors including Jim Broadbent, Eddie Marsan, Sally Hawkins, Lesley Manville and James Corden give fascinating insights into the director and his distinctive method of working.

I have more or less followed the work of Mike Leigh since seeing Secrets and Lies, one of my top ten favorite movies ever. I knew vaguely about his directing method of rehearsals and improvisation and not using a formal script, but this documentary filled in more details about his methods and a lot mroe besides. Another of his hallmarks is reusing performers in multiple productions, so some of the commentary is given by actors and actresses I have seen many times, both in and out of his films. If you know Mike Leigh’s work you should like this video biography. If you aren’t very familiar with his efforts, you might start there.