October 19, 2004

Mike Leigh is one of those guys you immediately want acceptance from. It is, ironically enough, reminiscent of my 20-year-old feeling about Chris Guest, another genius who works in improvisation and has mastered at least the appearance of ambivalence about the outside world. Leigh is completely accessible, but vaguely apart. Is he measuring? Is he disinterested? Or is he considering it all, processing large amounts of information, preparing to convert them into a vision that is truly his own?

When you ask Mike Leigh the obvious first question, "Did you do Vera Drake the same way you did your other films?" he laughs and gives what feels a bit like a stock answer, albeit with pitch perfect first-time delivery… "But of course, I wouldn't know how to do it any other way." But as the conversation continues, you feel as though his stock answer is his real answer. Not because he doesn't know any other way to do it, but because it is the way he wants to do it. And that may be the key to Leigh writ small… he makes you feel that he is doing what he can when, in fact, his keen, sharp mind is getting you exactly where he wants you to be.

Vera Drake is Leigh's latest and, once again, it is Oscar bait of the highest caliber. The issue is abortion and Leigh decided from the start to go back to the pre-pill, pre-choice era. He had funding troubles, amazingly enough, not because of the material but because his last film, to quote him, "was an outright bomb" and even Mike Leigh lives on the precarious industry edge of "what have you done for me lately?".

He had the good fortune of finding (and good taste of hiring) Imelda Staunton, his only choice for this role, available for the eight months that are the heart of his process - rehearsing through directed improvisation for six months before shooting for six weeks.

I will have to try to get Ms. Staunton alone one of these days. I am generally thrilled if I can get a director and an actor together for a chat. Watching the look on the director's face as the actor talks and vice versa can open doors to so much of what happened on the surface and underneath between two powerfully creative forces. (Just last night, on a side note I will write more about on the blog, watching Craig T. Nelson watch the producer of The Incredibles talk about the process, and the joy I saw in Nelson's eyes, really listening and engaging in stuff that he really doesn't have to worry about, was almost as much fun as listening to John Walker tell stories.) In this case I think I saw only a small slice of Ms. Staunton's self. Her maturity, good taste, charm and respect for her director kept her from letting a little looser in this case. There were more knowing glances from star to director than words.

That said, sitting with Staunton made her awards trajectory very clear. She is the gentle light that will draw acting moths to her… the dimmer the light, the closer they will get. She is the great minimalist actor of this season, in many ways the opposite number to Liam Neeson, who has a much showier role to play, but keeps the light on the inside, challenging the viewer to stay by his side, waiting for glimpses. Staunton's Vera is the woman on the bus you never notice… but here, her name is the title and you are charged with paying attention to an extraordinary life without extraordinary signals. In short, she could well move from unknown to beloved to Oscar winner in the next four months.

In discussing the key scene in which Vera's world is turned upside down by the outside world, Leigh described the complex effort made for the unfilmed improvisation that was being done in rehearsal. For Staunton and her onscreen family, it was just a nice holiday dinner. But soon all the actors would be whisked into the unexpected by Leigh's invasion of story into their fictional lives. Without any of the actors in "Vera's family" knowing, Team Leigh had to create sets and bring in actors that could make the experience real enough for the actors in character to keep moving through without breaking focus.

And Staunton watches Leigh discuss this and she looks, even though she experienced it, a little amazed, still so pleased to have had the opportunity to work in this environment. That rehearsal experience seems to be one of the most cherished by Leigh and Staunton on this film, even though cameras never rolled.

It is, to my great surprise, becoming a theme this year. We are seeing some fine veteran directors giving some really fine actors a chance to stretch. With Leigh, it is the expectation. But then there are Condon and Payne and Amenabar and Almodovar and Brooks and Hackford and Mann and a number of new faces behind the camera that are really pushing the envelope. And even the big movies, like The Aviator and Alexander, are taking risks and leaving some big name stars out there, sure to fly high or to crash terribly in iconic roles.

Leigh's demand on his actors to relax and be natural, as opposed to acting, has been remarkably successful for him and the actors. Rumors about this actor or that spending the entire time on set in character was brought up by Leigh as an absurdity. In fact, if faced with an actor who did that, he says that the actor would be kindly dismissed. And on his films, Leigh has been forced to say goodbye to a handful of actors who just couldn't relax into "The Leigh Method."

But the method… he wouldn't know how to do it any other way. The result is an intimate truth that few filmmakers have the time or focus to achieve. There are few who are rigorous enough with themselves to demand that what they know be critical to what they do. But Mike Leigh does, because he has to. As a result of that, and her own talents, Imelda Staunton delivers a flawless performance, yet another less-than-world-famous actor who reaches the heights of the craft while working with Leigh... a phenomenon so consistent that it has become nearly cliché. But isn't cinema - aren't we all - better for it?

READER OF THE DAY: THE OTHER ALF writes: "Saw Team America last Sunday night and laughed. Is the movie stupid? Yes. Is it really stupid? Probably. The problem is Team America is similar to a joke told by a seven year old. Yeah, it might be funny, but there will be some delivery problems. Example: The Film Actors Guild. Okay, we get the acronym for it and it's funny the first time is seen/told. But they keep dragging it back in and dragging it back in as if we missed it the first time. The shocking thing is that Stone and Parker are usually not as prone to repeat themselves in South Park episodes. Still, some gags are funny, ie. Kim Jong Il, the vomit scene and the puppet love.

Oh, as for the mis-sells, here are two obvious examples. One, Master & Commander, whose trailer used sweeping action music and put lots of stuff blowing up, but, unfortunately, was selling a period piece drama with some action. The movie is great, but that's not the movie they were selling. Two, The Village. Again, drama piece with some horror, but sold as the continuing of Shyamalan's horror streak. Too bad there's only one true horror scene in it (and it didn't even involve the "monsters" in the woods)."

And this from NOT JEZ : "My absolute favorite has got to be Salma Hayek's "role" in Once Upon a Time in Mexico. I went to a test screening many, many months before the movie was released and I was astonished how much screen time she got in the ads, knowing she had roughly five minutes of screentime. I was thinking she'd get an "also starring" or "featuring", but she got second or third billing in the TV ads and trailer. Talk about misleading. But it's all forgiven. Can a man really be that upset about seeing more Salma?"

Finally, this from NO RELATION TO REBECCA: "I want to mention the digital cooning of characters in film. Though I havent seen The Incredibles or Sharktale, this year alone we have three stereotypical protrayals of african americans in "family" friendly cartoons. From the trailers alone I feel like Im watching an animated version of The Mack. These characters might as well start knifing their hoes, and deal drugs to minors. Forgive me if I am coming off as extreme, but I dont think this is what the NAACP had in mind when they wanted more roles for minorities. As an African American this pixelized shucking and jiving is very offensive to me. If this is hollywood's idea of breaking barriers, please build that wall up again."

E-ME: How do you feel about the race?