Happy Go Lucky

"Enraha" the word stuck in my mind right now whenever I think about "Happy Go Lucky". My acting mentor, Rich Rands, told me to see this hilarious and enriching movie directed by Mike Leigh because the fact that Mike Leigh uses a lot of improvisation in his script, from what the actors come up with during rehearsals.

Critics elaborately talked about Sally Hawkins' ability to portray Poppy's character, who must smile, be peppy, optimistic, talk high-pitched with infectious giggle at almost all times. It must be done naturally and convincingly, which some claims that's harder than playing Lady Macbeth. However, for me, I strayed away a little bit from my actual purpose of watching the movie. It took me far away from thinking about technical acting abilities among the actors, which I was told to look at. The storytelling aspect of the movie brought me to a higher level of understanding humanity in the effect of Sally's portrayal in "living truthfully under imaginary circumstances".

Mostly, Poppy's life episodes are similar to us, me, at least and that means the characters she encounters or surrounded by. But, the ways she deals with all of these, regardless the emotional states of the situations, has shown me the wonderful side of humanity. For instance, Poppy's relationship with Scott (Eddie Marsan). Bad tempered, Scott is an odd for a driving instructor especially he seems to channel road rage. His system for helping her remember the rear-view mirror and the two side mirrors involve naming them after fallen angels. He screams at her. No one could drive with Scott at their side. Any other person would quit working with Scott after one lesson. Not Poppy. Does she think she can help him? Their relationship descends into an extraordinary scene during which we suddenly see right inside both of them and understand better what Poppy's cheerfulness is all about. We also see Scott's terrifying insecurity and self-loathing.

Apart from very thick British accents, which I was having a hard time to understand with, I believe "Happy Go Lucky" has taught me the value of accepting people around me, despite their traits and characteristics.
"Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart" - Marcus Aurelius 121-80 AD, Roman Emperor, Philosopher.