12 - Circulation Is the Law of Life: Life Is Sweet

Summary

I do not make films which are prescriptive, and I do not make films which are conclusive. You do not walk out of my films with a clear feeling about what is right and wrong. They're ambivalent. You walk away with work to do. My films are sort of an investigation. They ask questions. They're reflecting.

–Mike Leigh

Leigh's work is energized by a productive doubleness. On the one hand, the characters are imagined to be as different as possible from each other and are allowed to figure utterly unique forms of thought and feeling. Yet they are simultaneously imagined to be members of a group, shaping their performances in relation to and in response to others. This doubleness is played out in Leigh's rehearsal process. One of the reasons he works with actors individually at first, and insists that they not discuss their characters with each other, is that he wants to avoid homogenizing their voices or blending their perspectives. He is absolutely committed to maximizing expressive, emotional, and performative differences. The uniqueness of the individual is virtually an article of faith.

Yet, at the same time, his characters are always imagined to be connected with others. Which is why the second stage of the rehearsal process goes in precisely the opposite direction to the first stage, involving joint improvisations (not unlike the ones Cyril and Shirley engage in) that put a premium on nimble, fluid, present-minded responsiveness.