"Awkward Moments". Or how about "Awkward Silences". And when the awkward silences get broken they usually get replaced by awkward, stilted conversations which reveal the full extent and depth of the repression of the movie's English characters. Mike Leigh's second(?) movie is full of his trademark shy, exaggeratedly timid, and not at all well-adjusted people; he shows their "bleak" lives with some rather heavy pathos. Pure pathos, in the case of this particular movie, in fact. There are only a few funnier moments; it is hard to laugh at all the characters, as sadly comical as they may be.
The inability of most characters to interact with their fellow humans in a relaxed manner is best shown in a very long scene with Raitt and the teacher whom she attempts to go out with (though God knows why); Raitt and the teacher just sit there, barely exchange words, and then Raitt tries to break the wall of British reserve between them by attempting to make both herself and him drunk. What follows shortly after she gets a little tipsy is an awkward (there's that word again) attempt by her to get physical with the teacher. Alas, she apparently didn't get HIM drunk enough: he barely manages to kiss her - and very briefly - after which he retreats like a frightened school-boy. The teacher was actually after Raitt's mentally-retarded (but cute) sister, Stephenson, but she, in turn, doesn't want any part of him. Stephenson is infatuated with an extremely shy, hippie guitar player. This guy is so repressed that he can barely accept any kind of invitation of hospitality by Raitt.
I don't know if Leigh did this on purpose, or whether I am over-analyzing the film, but I see an implied connection between Stephenson and the other characters in the following way: she is retarded and does not speak at all, but the other characters - due to their repressed Britishness - are just as unable to communicate as she is. Whether or not Leigh included this bit of subtle irony on purpose is secondary. I cannot understand, though, why he cast such an attractive woman (Raitt) to play such a lonely woman. She is so lonely that her desperation leads her to want to go after the teacher, who is humourless, even MORE repressed than she is, and by far not good-looking enough for her. In reality, a woman with her looks would have suitors literally chasing her on the street. Nevertheless, this being the only "flaw", the movie is an original, well-made, terrifically acted melancholic piece that is practically as good as most of Leigh's best films.
The inability of most characters to interact with their fellow humans in a relaxed manner is best shown in a very long scene with Raitt and the teacher whom she attempts to go out with (though God knows why); Raitt and the teacher just sit there, barely exchange words, and then Raitt tries to break the wall of British reserve between them by attempting to make both herself and him drunk. What follows shortly after she gets a little tipsy is an awkward (there's that word again) attempt by her to get physical with the teacher. Alas, she apparently didn't get HIM drunk enough: he barely manages to kiss her - and very briefly - after which he retreats like a frightened school-boy. The teacher was actually after Raitt's mentally-retarded (but cute) sister, Stephenson, but she, in turn, doesn't want any part of him. Stephenson is infatuated with an extremely shy, hippie guitar player. This guy is so repressed that he can barely accept any kind of invitation of hospitality by Raitt.
I don't know if Leigh did this on purpose, or whether I am over-analyzing the film, but I see an implied connection between Stephenson and the other characters in the following way: she is retarded and does not speak at all, but the other characters - due to their repressed Britishness - are just as unable to communicate as she is. Whether or not Leigh included this bit of subtle irony on purpose is secondary. I cannot understand, though, why he cast such an attractive woman (Raitt) to play such a lonely woman. She is so lonely that her desperation leads her to want to go after the teacher, who is humourless, even MORE repressed than she is, and by far not good-looking enough for her. In reality, a woman with her looks would have suitors literally chasing her on the street. Nevertheless, this being the only "flaw", the movie is an original, well-made, terrifically acted melancholic piece that is practically as good as most of Leigh's best films.