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[Inlander]

I went and saw his new film, Another Year, last night, and it's absolutely incredible. Superficially nothing happens in it but every scene is suffused with such incredible emotion and accumulated wisdom and sadness just barely held in check. Leigh's been on an incredible run of form lately - Happy Go Lucky, in particular, is one of my favourite films of recent years, though I know not everyone liked it - and, quite simply, I don't think there's anyone else making films like his in the English language.

So that's my opinion. Thread start!

[KvP]

I liked Happy Go Lucky! I like Jim Broadbent!

Leigh really does "recognizably pathetic" very well. It's almost as though his films aren't set in magical hollywood faerie land.

[The Seldom Killer]

Yeah, huge Mike Leigh fan.

Shane Meadows is stacking up as a contemporary in the emotional content stakes, although the storyline is often far clearer.

Also not to be discounted is Ken Loach, who is another large exponent of what is sometimes called the "kitchen sink realism" genre.

Also worth considering that Britain has a strong culture of TV dramatisation that contains a lot of similar style and similar quality work.

But back to the man himself, my favourite piece of work is Four Days in July.

[Inlander]

I absolutely adore Ken Loach, but he does have a tendency to get stuck in a bit of a rut sometimes. Mike Leigh is on an incredible streak at the moment.