in the arts
from June 2008

Cinema exists primarily for entertaining its audience but can also inform, raise questions and include some of the tragic themes that often belong to the theatre. An example of a film that encourages the audience to leave feeling content is Mike Leigh’s latest work: Happy-Go-Lucky.

Its central character is Poppy, a 30 something London primary school teacher, always smiling and eager for others to do so too. Poppy has an optimistic view of life and the loss of her bike doesn’t faze her; she parties hard with her girlfriends and is solicitous for the well being of her younger sisters. Trampolining is one of her hobbies and the metaphor of flying though the air as a free spirit is picked up again in the scene where her class are making bird masks and acting out the flapping of wings. Her foray into flamenco dancing leads Poppy to support her Spanish teacher’s desire to instill some gypsy passion into their steps.

It could be inferred that Poppy might be bisexual. She has a fling with a school social worker yet shares a bed with her long standing flatmate, Zoë, of ten years. But who knows? This is literally a colourful film: Poppy is dressed in a sort of 60s retro chic and she and Zoë bomb around London in a beat-up, bright yellow Fiat.

At the end of the film Zoe does suggest that Poppy should consider not being nice to everyone. The biggest challenge she faces is trying to make her dour, racist, homophobic driving instructor lighten up. They clash, big time over road safety and concentrating on other traffic. When the instructor throws a wobbly at other drivers cutting in, Poppy storms out and walks home. She has to accept the brutal reality that one of her pupils is experiencing domestic violence from his mum’s boyfriend.

To be honest, living with Poppy could be very exhausting. The daily grind of London life and tough schools is grimmer than the film portrays. Mike Leigh is in a distinctly benevolent mood - he doesn’t uncover dark secrets, mock naïve people or satirise their foibles. We see the essential goodness of Poppy without any veneer of cynicism. She would certainly puncture the bitchy pretensions of the gay scene with good-natured putdowns. Go for it girl!

It has to be admitted that Poppy would fail to lighten the spirits of an Uruguayan family in an isolated coastal district with a 15 year-old hermaphrodite child in the film XXY. Alex is ‘intersexed’ - ie born with both male and female sexual organs - but brought up a girl and takes testosterone-suppressing drugs. A family friend who is a plastic surgeon is invited to stay as Alex’s parents contemplate radical surgery for their child. Alex is facing a surge of hormones and makes a gay pass at Alvaro, the teenage son of the surgeon. Alvaro is both fascinated and appalled by Alex’s physical condition.

This is a film as much about family relationships as the problems of adolescent sexuality. The parents just don’t know what to advise for the best and Alex, too, doesn’t want more pills or surgery. Yet to do nothing is also not an option. The father is involved in protecting wild turtles and the metaphor of an endangered species requiring care is picked up in conversation with some local, prejudiced fishermen. Social disapproval means that Alex’s family is always on the move seeking isolation. The windswept dunes of Uruguay, summer storms and stunning sunsets are very atmospheric but essentially this is a bleak film. We can be sure that there is more anguish for the future for Alex. Our own reactions to Alex are a real test of our own attitudes to diversity and sexual difference. Our own problems of daily life probably pale into insignificance in comparison to Alex’s difficulties. Ines Efron puts in a stunning, mature performance that makes this an intriguing film. What would your advise - surgery or pills or what?

It’s hard sometimes to connect with such issues and too easy to come away totally depressed. Two hundred years ago, Voltaire wrote his novel Candide in which the central character sees good in every problem and is grateful not to have experienced the buggery, deceit and rape he sees in his travels in Europe. He advises that we should focus on cultivating our gardens rather than fail to address global issues. Is this realism or escapism? The silver screen shows us the luxury of debating the choice rather than having to live with the consequences. To be honest, most of us are likely to warm to Poppy’s sense of joi de vivre.

Nick Tyldesley