Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky is a curious, Mercurial affair that casually embraces relevance. Leigh depicts the genuine enjoyment of life by a schoolteacher named Poppy who, for no clear reason, is able to successfully meet life’s simple challenges with a smile.
Unlike the drastic and wrong-headed turn by Benigni in Life is Beautiful, where happiness is myopia, Leigh has done his Paxil-effused homework. Born in a working class neighborhood near Manchester, Leigh was raised in a Jewish immigrant family and eventually attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, including the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts and Central School of Art and Design. This particular pedigree no doubt informed the film’s particular attention to detail, gelato palette and puckish flair, which reflect nicely our heroine’s mood. But the context that surrounds Poppy’s delight (perhaps a more apt title for this film) is mysterious, elusive, and it is in this respect that Leigh misses a step. From where does Poppy’s joy emanate? Surely a working, single woman living in England’s North London must face the reality of her middle class urban existence with a more nuanced emotional arsenal than this. Or perhaps not? In any case, a material understanding of the source of Poppy’s glee is missing - a glance at her bank balance would be something - and the film reads like a critical essay without its thesis. Were it not for Leigh’s humane resume, the sentiments dancing in Happy-Go-Lucky could very easily be construed as feckless. Or worse - incomplete.