Mike Leigh
Miserable but compelling: Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths reviewed
Pansy is meant to be a sympathetic figure, but I felt sorrier for those who had to put up with…
Our verdict on Pappano’s first months at the London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Antonio Pappano began 2024 as music director of the Royal Opera and ended as chief conductor of the London…
In a class of its own
Mike Leigh’s classic, Abigail’s Party, has been revived under the direction of Vivienne Garnett. The script is a guilty secret…
There’s nothing radical about Mike Leigh’s films
So there I was in Soho Square on a cold and rainy morning, nibbling my complimentary almond croissant and eagerly…
It’s like being trapped in an episode of Poldark: Peterloo reviewed
Mike Leigh’s Peterloo is one of those films where you keep waiting for it to get good, and waiting and…
Polite pillage
Forget the pollsters and political pundits — English National Opera called it first and called it Right when it programmed…
Staring into the abyss
The first interaction between two men recorded in the Bible involves a murder. In the earliest classic of English literature,…
Art of grunting
Mr Turner may be the gruntiest film of the year, possibly the gruntiest film ever. ‘Grunt, grunt, grunt,’ goes Mr…
Leigh’s late flowering
Hermione Eyre talks to filmmaker Mike Leigh about Mr Turner, Hollywood, and making films his own way
