Life Is Sweet
This invigorating film from Mike Leigh was his first international sensation. Melancholy and funny by turns, it is an intimate portrait of a working-class family in a suburb just north of London—an irrepressible mum and dad (Alison Steadman and Jim Broadbent) and their night-and-day twins, a bookish good girl and a troubled, ill-tempered layabout (Claire Skinner and Jane Horrocks). Leigh and his typically brilliant cast create, with extraordinary sensitivity and craft, a vivid, lived-in story of ordinary existence, in which even modest dreams—such as the father’s desire to open a food truck—carry enormous weight.
Director-Approved Special Edition Features
- New, restored 2K digital film transfer, supervised by director of photography Dick Pope, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- New audio commentary featuring director Mike Leigh
- Audio recording of a 1991 interview with Leigh at the National Film Theatre in London
- Five short films written and directed by Leigh for the proposed television series Five-Minute Films, with a new audio introduction by Leigh
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Plus: A new essay by critic David Sterritt
New cover by Eric Skillman
Director-Approved Special Edition Features
- New, restored 2K digital film transfer, supervised by director of photography Dick Pope, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- New audio commentary featuring director Mike Leigh
- Audio recording of a 1991 interview with Leigh at the National Film Theatre in London
- Five short films written and directed by Leigh for the proposed television series Five-Minute Films, with a new audio introduction by Leigh
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Plus: A new essay by critic David Sterritt
New cover by Eric Skillman
Cast
- Jim Broadbent
- Andy
- Alison Steadman
- Wendy
- Claire Skinner
- Natalie
- Jane Horrocks
- Nicola
- Stephen Rea
- Patsy
- Timothy Spall
- Aubrey
- David Thewlis
- Nicola’s lover
- Moya Brady
- Paula
Credits
- Director
- Mike Leigh
- Written by
- Mike Leigh
- Produced by
- Simon Channing-Williams
- Director of photography
- Dick Pope
- Edited by
- Jon Gregory
- Music
- Rachel Portman
- Production designer
- Alison Chitty
- Sound recordist
- Malcolm Hirst
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