After seeing this fantastic film, I checked some user reactions on IMDb. It turns out that most people in the world view a character that is optimistic and seldom without a smile on their face as someone who has serious mental problems. There seems to be a desire to live life as seriously as possible, and that's what Mike Leigh addresses in his latest film.
Poppy (Sally Hawkins- where was her Oscar nomination?) is a 35 year-old grade school teacher in England who goes through life with a smile on her face. She isn't stupid, on medications, or trying to get a rise out of people, she just thinks it to be the right thing to do. She has very good friends, but there are some people in the world that feel that it is their obligation to not like her. One of these people is her driving instructor, Scott (Eddie Marsan, playing a great role). Scott believes it to be his obligation in life to take everything seriously and to attempt to kill Poppy's spirit. He isn't a villain- he's much too normal for that. He's not even an antagonist, all things considered. He's just a very sad man.
There isn't a single scene in the movie that can describe the character because she's an extremely complicated one. No, it's not that hard to understand her, but the complications come from her being outside of the norm. There is a key scene early on in the film: Poppy discovers that her bike was stolen. Her reaction is never anger but disappointment ("I didn't even get a chance to say 'goodbye.'"). She then walks to her destination, still smiling.
Films like these rarely come along. I hate to call it a feel-good movie because it's so much deeper than that. Take the flamenco instructor for example (Karina Fernandez). She's spicier than my jambalaya, but she is not a female repeat of Scott. She doesn't try to destroy her spirit nor does she try to use its energy for flamenco. Instead, she ignores it and criticizes her based on her work in the class. In this case, ignoring it is worse than using it to attack her because if she was an effective teacher, she could have allowed her outlook on life to let her express herself in a new way.
I mentioned before that the driving instructor wasn't the antagonist. Here's the question: Who is, then? This film does have a strong antagonist, and my answer is that it's just about everybody. It doesn't have the same "fuck you" that Caryl Churchill's 'Vinegar Tom' has, but the indictment is clearly there. See it for yourself, and remember that you deserve to be happy.
Rated R for language.
Buy it here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment