Naked (1993, dir. Mike Leigh, UK) by Patrick McElroy

When looking at the last few decades of American film, many of them are often safe, formulaic, and lack a form of human insight. While there are some exceptions in America, most other countries still have filmmakers who go against these conventions, and one of the most significant is Britain’s own Mike Leigh.

Leigh’s films are observant, subtle, honest, and fascinated by the characters they explore. With a career that started with making films for television on the BBC from the 70s through the early 80s, he returned to feature films with his critically acclaimed masterpiece High Hopes in 1988, and has since turned out an impressive  body of work.

The film that I feel best exemplifies his talents is what many consider to be his masterpiece, the unflinching 1993 film Naked. The film follows the young, unemployed and temperamental Johnny (David Thewlis), who’s fleeing from Manchester England after raping a young woman, and settles upon Dalston a small part of lower east London, at his ex-girlfriend Louise’s place with her two roommates.

The rest of the film explores Johnny’s journey in the  area, as he seduces a roommate, interacts with citizens of the area, and has violent outbursts.  When Leigh makes his films, he does an improv session with his actors, then spends a few months on his own writing it into a screenplay, so his films carry an inner truth from the actors on the screen.

Much of what holds this movie together is the performance by Thewlis himself, his performance is in a similar vein to the young Marlon Brando, particularly in A Streetcar  Named Desire, and On The Waterfront, in which you see this raw, unpredictable youthful energy. Most other actors would choose to portray Johnny as unlikable in the repulsive acts he commits, but Thewlis plays him with empathy, particularly in a scene where he spends the evening with a security guard, and sees a different view of life.

In many films blue collar life isn’t explored, but in Naked, as in many of Leighs other films, we get an honest view of all three classes in modern western culture, but most notably the effects of post-Thatcher economics. One of Leigh’s visual strengths as a filmmaker is his use of the wide shot, where he stays on actors for long periods of time, as you witness the behavior in real time.

When the film premiered at the Cannes film festival it earned immediate acclaim, winning a best actor award for Thewlis, and a best director award for Leigh; several months later both would be snubbed by the  Academy. The film would go on to be admired by modern filmmakers such as the Safdie Brothers, Sean Baker and Ari Aster, and in 2011 would be ranked at number 11 on Time Out’s list of 100 greatest British films.

If you’ve never seen any of Leigh’s films, this is a great place to start, and hopefully it leads to a deeper exploration of this great humanist’s filmography.

Patrick McElroy is a movie writer and movie lover based in Los Angeles. Check out his other writing at: https://www.facebook.com/patrick.mcelroy.3726 or his IG: @mcelroy.patrick