High Hopes
Directed by	Mike Leigh
Produced by	Victor Glynn Simon Channing-Williams
Written by	Mike Leigh
Starring	Philip Davis Ruth Sheen Edna Doré Philip Jackson
Distributed by	Skouras Films (USA release)
Release date(s)	September 24, 1988
Running time	112 min
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

High Hopes is a 1988 film directed by Mike Leigh, focussing on an extended working-class family living in King's Cross, London and elsewhere.

The film primarily examines Cyril (Philip Davis) and Shirley (Ruth Sheen), a motor-cycle courier and his girlfriend, along with their friends, neighbours, and Cyril's mother and sister. Despite staying true to Leigh's down-at-the-heel, realist style, the film is ultimately a social comedy concerning culture clashes between different classes and belief systems.

Cyril is a strong, old-style socialist, who despairs of his elderly working-class but Tory-voting mum; her new yuppie neighbours (who have purchased what was once a Council house next door); and his social-climbing sister and her crass, car-salesman husband. Cyril and Shirley are portrayed as the most decent characters in the film, despite Cyril's irascible nature. Theirs is a strong relationship, marred by Cyril's reluctance to have children and his resentment that his cause is destined to be on the losing side in history.

In one of the special features included on the Criterion Collection's double-disc dvd release of Leigh's film Naked, Leigh states that High Hopes is a film about the difficulty of being a socialist.

[edit] Awards and nominations

• European Film Awards
  • Won: Best Actress – Leading Role (Ruth Sheen)
  • Won: Best Composer (Andrew Dickson
  • Won: Best Supporting Performance (Edna Doré)
  • Nominated: Best Film

• Independent Spirit Awards (USA)
  • Nominated: Best Foreign Film

• Venice Film Festival (Italy)
  • Won: FIPRESCI Prize (Mike Leigh)

[edit] External links

• High Hopes at the Internet Movie Database
• High Hopes at Allmovie

v • d • e Mike Leigh Television films Nuts in May (1976) · Abigail's Party (1977) · Kiss of Death (1977) · Meantime (1983) · Four Days in July (1985) Theatrical films High Hopes (1988) · Life Is Sweet (1990) · Naked (1993) · Secrets & Lies (1996) · Career Girls (1997) · Topsy-Turvy (1999) · All or Nothing (2002) · Vera Drake (2004) · Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)

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