Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 29, Issue 21 - Index

The 46th New York Film Festival
By Peter Stamelman
Anyone who
has attended
a two-week film
festival, and who has
endeavored to see as many of the films
as possible, knows that it requires determination,
planning and stamina. Although the outside world does, to a
certain extent, cease to exist, there are still intrusions. In the case
of this year’s New York Film Festival, which ran from September 26
through October 12, the intrusions were unavoidable and plentiful:
the election campaign, the economic meltdown, the presidential
and vice presidential debates and the Jewish High Holy Days (Yup,
both Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur occurred during the Festival.
For that matter, so did Ramadan.)
Notwithstanding these distractions, this year’s version of the
Festival had enough superb films to keep a viewer riveted. As
always, there were also enough high-profile misfires to leave that
same viewer scratching his head in bewilderment. Among the
latter, Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling,” Steven Soderburgh’s “Che”
and Ari Folman’s “Waltz with Bashir” topped the High Expectations,
Big Disappointments list.
But, temperamentally, and in the spirit of the season, I prefer to
accentuate the positive, so I will write about my three favorite
films.
Easily the most delightful (and, in many ways, most profound) film
of the Festival was Mike Leigh’s joyous paean to optimism “Happy-
Go-Lucky.” The prodigiously gifted Sally Hawkins stars as Poppy, a
London elementary school teacher who is the soul sister to Nelly
Forbush’s cock-eyed optimist. She is even more unsinkable than
Molly Brown.
Ms. Hawkins, who deservedly won the Best Actress “Silver Bear”
at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, has the comedic chops of a
seasoned pro and the most winning smile since Rita Tushingham in
“A Taste of Honey.” Already her performance is drawing attention
as an early contender in the Academy Award Best Actress race.
This is the third time Ms. Hawkins has worked with Leigh (she was
Samantha in “All or Nothing” and Susan in “Vera Drake.”)
I asked Ms. Hawkins if, by now, she considers herself a fullyfledged
member of the Mike Leigh repertory company. Her e-mail
response was insightful: “Having grown up watching the incredibly
detailed and exceptional work of Tim Spall, Lesley Manville, Jim
Broadbent, Sam Kelly, Alison Steadman (the list goes on)…to be
considered one of the “family” is hard for me to digest; I feel very
lucky indeed.”
I also asked Ms. Hawkins about actors whom she considers her
muses.
“Oh, so many! Certainly the classic American comediennes of the
‘30s and ‘40s were, and continue to be, huge influences on me. I
loved the romance, the body language, the etiquette, the glitzy
dresses – in “Top Hat,” Ginger Rogers’ infamous dress of feathers.
But there were many other actresses who were, and are, iconic
figures for me – Jean Simmons (particularly in “Black Narcissus”)
Audrey Hepburn, Katherine Hepburn, Catherine Deneuve, Marilyn
Monroe. Beautiful, brilliant, bright and strong female figures, all of
whom used their femininity to great effect.”
Since Poppy’s unflagging cheerfulness could have so easily
become tiresome, I asked Ms. Hawkins how she managed to
walk the fine line between being irrepressibly effervescent and
irritatingly overbearing. “As an actor I couldn’t really worry about
how she was or wasn’t coming across; I could only focus on being
in character. If I had begun to worry about how Poppy was being
perceived I really wouldn’t have been doing my job. What I adore
about working with Mike is that he is very interested in capturing
the ambiguity of his characters; people are ambiguous – that’s
what makes us so eternally fascinating.”
In addition, since Poppy is so vivid and alive, I was eager to know
whether the character has stayed with her.
“Absolutely – I feel her spirit around me. Her incredible ability to
pick herself up again and again, whatever life throws at her. Being
in such a character’s boots for so long one can’t help but be
influenced by them.”
I followed up by asking her about Leigh’s famous pre-shoot
rehearsal time, which, in the case of “Happy-Go-Lucky,” was
almost one year.
“Because of the lengthy rehearsal process, and the very intense,
all-consuming way that Mike works, I think almost all of his actors
are affected by their characters. In my case, Poppy’s energy
propelled me through the months of rehearsal and the actual
shooting. Working with Mike, creating these characters from