Haddenham Screen

HARD TRUTHS (12A)

1 hour 34mins

Director:  Mike Leigh

Starring:  Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, David Webber

Synopsis:

Pansy is a woman tormented by anger and depression, hypersensitive to the slightest possible offence and ever ready to fly off the handle. She criticises her husband and their adult son so relentlessly that neither bothers to argue with her. She picks fights with strangers and sales clerks and enumerates the world's countless flaws to anyone who will listen, especially her cheerful sister Chantal, who, despite their clashing temperaments, might be the only person still capable of sympathising with her.

Awards:  two BAFTA nominations

Reviews:

"Call it the sorrow of the ordinary front door, of which Hard Truths grows into a graceful study. Credit to Jean-Baptiste and the actors. And to Leigh, for making, at 81, one of the best films of his career. "  ****  FINANCIAL TIMES

"We’re drawn in close to Jean-Baptiste’s features -- titanic in their expressiveness, twisted by an unseen poison. The actor never shaves down any of Pansy’s thorns, but lets us love her despite them."  ****  INDEPENDENT

"It’s a film of deep empathy, but a tough one, too. Leigh and his collaborators don’t have any easy answers as to why Pansy is this way, or if she’ll ever be different. What they leave us with is a character who’s richly and roundly drawn."  ****  TIME OUT