Features: DVD
Editor's Note
Writer-director Mike Leigh's BLEAK MOMENTS provides a glimpse into the life of several seemingly insignificant London residents. Sylvia (Anne Raitt) is a secretary who spends her evenings drinking sherry and taking care of her mentally disabled sister, Hilda (Sarah Stephenson). Lonely for some male company, she begins to see Peter (Eric Allan), an uptight schoolteacher. That's when Norman (Mike Bradwell) appears. Norman is a guitar-playing hippie who has rented out Sylvia's garage for a place to duplicate copies of a magazine. Hilda loves listening to Norman play his guitar, and eventually Sylvia invites him inside for coffee and a chat. One night Peter and Sylvia go out to eat at a Chinese restaurant, while Sylvia's coworker Pat (Joolia Cappleman) cares for Hilda. Upon returning home and drinking more sherry, Sylvia makes a pass at Peter, who shyly declines her offer. When Norman decides to leave the garage for good, Sylvia and Hilda are left alone once again, to combat the boredom and mundanity of their lives. Leigh's early made-for-television drama captures daily existence in a way that most filmmakers do not. He allows situations to unfold on their own terms, without forcing them as a writer, creating an intimate, bittersweet drama.
Plot Summary
More tart, low-key kitchen sink realism from improvisational auteur director Mike Leigh (best known for the Oscar-nominated SECRET & LIES). An underemployed secretary and amateur bon vivant tries to surmount the doldrums by instigating two affairs--one with a stuffy, prudish middle-class teacher, and the other with the hippie freak living in her garage.
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