Arts & Culture

 Hard Truths
Where: In theatres
What: Movie, 97 mins.
When: Now
Genre: Drama
Rating: NNN (out of 5)
Why you should watch: Brilliant performances power the latest rough and raw look at working class life in Britain from director Mike Leigh.

ONE OF THE BIG surprises in the acting categories in this week’s Oscar nominations, along with Pamela Anderson missing out for her once-in-a-career role in The Last Showgirl, was the absence of Marianne Jean-Batiste’s performance in Mike Leigh’s latest, Hard Truth, which seemed certain Oscar bait.

British auteur director Leigh has been reliably making powerful, raw and real studies of working-class life in Britain for decades, including his breakout film and 1996 Cannes Palm d’or winner Secrets & Lies. His latest, the sometimes-painful Hard Truths, is another successful exploration of this rich, if often bleak, turf.

Leigh draws intimate and revealing performances from his actors, who project great trust in their director, often working with him on more than one film. As with Secrets & Lies, for which she was Oscar nominated,  the mega-talented Jean-Batiste is at the core of the story, this time as Pansy, a tortuously angry woman with little apparent love for her largely distracted plumber husband, Curtley (David Webster) or her still-living-at-home, 22-year-old, almost silent son, Moses (Tuwaine Barrett).

Initially, the acid-mouthed Pansy is entertaining as she indulges the furies of disproval for her fellow humans in everyday life. Some of us may silently contemplate these furies, but Pansy scathingly spews them with acid-tongued accuracy. While it’s mildly amusing watching her takedown inattentive salespeople and people battling her for a parking space, as Pansy turns her wrath on those closest to her, it’s hard not hurt on their behalf.

Michelle Austin, another veteran Leigh performer, plays Pansy’s younger sister, Chantelle, a good-natured hairdresser whose sunny disposition is the exact opposite of her big sister, leaving a mystery around the source of Pansy’s anger.

Chanelle’s younger daughters share their mum’s upbeat approach and are forced to suffer through their aunt’s negativity and relentless buzzkill at family events. Chantelle’s difficulty in getting her sister to join her in visiting their mother’s grave hints at the source of her anger — but, like the beleaguered family members in the film, it grows pretty unpleasant suffering through Pansy’s relentless negativity and even cruelty.

Viewers can search for, even pray for, a redemption arc in this film, but the bleakness is largely unrelenting; while perhaps that’s the point, it also makes for tough viewing. Overall, there are great performances from most of the cast in a tale that is tough to tell — and to watch.