a few thoughts
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Film and Television Discussion
LTUM — 12 years ago(June 26, 2013 07:03 AM)
1hortense was by far the most appealing character. and the one i have more empathy for, as an orphan. by far the classiest and most 'together' of all these blokes.
2blethlyn is completely annoying. and yes it may fit the character and the circumstance and plot and all that, but the delivery of her lines is excruciating. the pitch of her voice and the constant crying sniffing is just nearly intolerable
3 i remember the hype during 96 and my opinion is this film was designed to elicit a 'shock value' reaction from audiences in the UK and amerika. everyone won't understand this, but race issues were different in 1996 even though that wasnt so long ago. i think this movie wouldn't have garnered 01% of the attention it actually got if hortense had been played by a white actress. it's the core of the plot, actually. and it's evident right there in the film from the clear reactions the characters give.
yes i do think shock value was part of the plan here, by mike leigh. and i'm sure he delighted in the attention it has got over the years, eating right out of his hand.
4 and i do think leigh patronises the working class in all his films, but they are still very thoughtful and engaging and like a car crash you can't turn away from. haviing said that they do have significant entertainment value. and i like other things like the way he films them and some of the making of details/strategies."You are literally too stupid to insult."
"Thank you." -
jaystarstar — 12 years ago(August 13, 2013 10:01 PM)
If Hortense had been white the film wouldn't have worked.
Leigh was going on the implicit assumption that working-class people like Cynthia and Roxanne are basically fairly prejudiced and would be shocked at the idea of a daughter/sister of theirs being black.
If Hortense was white and not really very different looking than Cynthia, it is hard to imagine Cynthia going through the whole denial process as long as she did.- You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.
-
london777 — 9 years ago(November 23, 2016 09:36 AM)
If Hortense had been white the film wouldn't have worked.
I totally disagree. The film was about the stigma of illegitimacy, not skin-color, and would have worked perfectly well with only the most minor adjustments to the script.
working-class people like Cynthia and Roxanne are basically fairly prejudiced and would be shocked at the idea of a daughter/sister of theirs being black.
Firstly, that is a snobbish and incorrect characterization of the English working-class. Many are racially prejudiced, true, but the majority are not. The family depicted here clearly are not. Their consternation at suddenly finding a new member of the nuclear family was understandable and well depicted, but none of it was down to racial prejudice.
We expect problems to arise from the two youngsters, but they turns out to be rather sweet and have a deal of common sense. -
ToiletMug — 1 week ago(March 21, 2026 02:11 PM)
Imagine thinking that was worth posting on seven different message boards. Oh look! I'm wrong again. Story of my life.
There once was Crisso-2, self-appointed sage,
Who treated each thread like a stage.
He’d scoff, “Read some more,”
Then misquote the whole lore,
And still post like he’d authored the page.