High Hopes (film)
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| 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 |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
High Hopes is a 1988 film directed by Mike Leigh. The film is about a working-class family living in King's Cross, London.
The film centres around the couple Cyril (Philip Davis) and Shirley (Ruth Sheen), a motor-cycle courier and his girlfriend, and their friends, neighbours and family.
Cyril is a strong, old-style socialist who despairs of his working-class but Tory-voting mum, her yuppie neighbours, his social-climbing sister and her crass, car-salesman husband. Despite staying true to Leigh's down-at-heel realist style, the film is a rather knockabout comedy about the culture clashes between the different classes and belief-systems on display.
Cyril and Shirley are portrayed as the most decent characters in the film despite Cyril's irascibile nature. Theirs is a strong relationship, marred by Cyril's resentment that his cause is destined to be on the losing side in history.

