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Naked [1993]
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Mike Leigh's finest
Review date: 2008-11-18 Rating: 10 out of 10
This Mike Leigh film is outstanding! I believe it was nominated for several awards at the Cannes film festival, and rightly so. David Thewlis plays Johnny, a complex anti-hero, which you love and loath in equal quantities. The dialogue is hilarious, witty, condescending and at times just plain mean.
The standout scene for me is when Johnny is invited into a security unit by a guard out of sympathy. Johnny then proceeds to destroy this poor man's hopes and dreams with a scathing philosophical monologue about our future as a human race. The supporting cast are equally good, in particular Greg Cruttwell as the nihilistic, vain and deeply shallow landlord. The music score is eerily compelling and haunting , and fits perfectly with the characters and scenery.
Unfortuntly Leigh hasn't made anything this dark or disturbing before or since. However he's still more consistent than most directors, and has become somewhat of a master at making thought provoking films.
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Reviews
A Mesmerising Study in Isolation and Human Relationships
Review date: 2008-09-01 Rating: 10 out of 10
Naked hit me like a sledgehammer when I first saw it. Unmatched in intensity, it examines several lives in different degrees of detail with one thing in common. They are all alone - even the girls who share the flat and the rich City boy with his girlfriends and conquests. Johnny links them together - his interactions with them, at times gentle, at times vicious and vile. We see, through excellence of acting and writing which is taut but often exuberant, how the morass of London isolates as often as it brings together.
This is a true London film, made up mostly of non-Londonders. It shines a light onto people living in the early 90s, recession-hit, post-Thatcher period. It is a political film, polemical and angry. Johnny is seemingly full of wonder at the world, railing against the 'me, now' generation, and yet deeply cynical about the purpose of existence.
Mike Leigh was accused of being misanthropic with Naked, focusing on the worst of human nature. But you can take from it what you want - in some people's lives there is little or no redemption, but there are moments. Moments of joy, kindness, laughter - even among the despair. You can take the great lines, the arguments, the speeches, the quotations. Take the fact that your life might have gone down the route of many of those people, but didn't. If it sounds like I treated this film like a religious experience, for many years I did. It is beautiful and powerful, rich and epic in its themes. I've never seen another film that spoke more to me about people.
This film changed my life!!
Review date: 2008-08-18 Rating: 10 out of 10
Having been a fan of Mike Leigh since accidently watching Abigails Party when I was about 13 I initially approached Naked with caution, after the bitter sweet romp that was 'life is sweet'the reviews for Naked at the time where varied and complex; and for only one reason..no one knew quite what to make of it. The opening scene has been debated on over the years whereupon the 'hero' Johnny is indulging in consensual, rough, backstreet sex with a women who he presumably knows. It sets up the film wonderfully as Johnny (played by the now famous David Thewlis) drifts around London and lambasts everybody he meets with his black-bible polemic. The 'end of the World is nigh' scene with Brian the security guard is worth the entry fee alone. This film made this young man (then) also think about the approaching 21st century with a sense of doom and guilt of what the industrial epoch had done to the planet, ourselves and our religious zeal. Never easy viewing, it is shot with minimum colour, but sprinkled with 'laughs' and underscored with sub-plots that tackle sexual relations, post yuppie social constructions, employment and homelessness it is the finest couple of hours that not only Mike Leigh has produced but modern cinema itself. Batman fans stay away.
Mike Leigh's Forgotten Masterpiece
Review date: 2008-08-16 Rating: 10 out of 10
At long last there is a decent R2 widescreen release of Mike Leigh's dark masterpiece, 'Naked'. One of the best films from the 1990's, the outstanding performance from Thewlis as the angry idealist is one that lingers long in the memory and during the course of the film he fires off some truly wonderful scripted lines, including the now classic 'How did you get here?' retort. The cinematography matches the dark tone of the film to perfection and is complemented by an understated, attractive score. In turns nasty, funny but always compulsive viewing and Thewlis is ably supported throughout by (the sadly late) Katrin Cartlidge and Lesley Sharpe, amongst others. Picture and sound on this release are excellent. A poster is included in the case which provides some background information and the 'special features' comprise a commentary from Leigh, Thewlis & Cartlidge. One for the idealistic loser in all of us.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
David Thewlis
Katrin Cartlidge
Lesley Sharp
Creators:
David Thewlis (Primary Contributor)
Lesley Sharp (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Spirit Entertainment Ltd
Manufacturer: Spirit Entertainment Ltd
EAN: 5060105720376
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2008-08-18
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 126 minutes