Meantime (1983)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Memorable, crazy movie

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Absolutely Fantastic

I saw Mike Leigh's film "Meantime" when it came out in 1983. It was disturbing then, just as it is now, 35 years later. If anyone would like to know what it was like to live in the U.K. when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, then watching Mike Leigh's film "Meantime" will give them some idea of how bad it was. It's 1983, Margaret Thatcher has been in power for four years. The country is in recession. Unemployment is endemic. The miners are out on strike, protesting about the government's plan to shut down Unprofitable mines, thereby putting countless miners out of work. A resurgent IRA makes an attempt on Thatcher's life by blowing up the hotel where she was staying for the Conservative Party's Annual Conference. She Survived the bombing and eventually, crushes the miner's union. It's against this background that the film is set. For the Pollock family, who are unwilling victims of what came to be known as "Thatcherism" and life was tough. They barely scrape by, living in a small, cramped flat in a tower block in London's East End. The Wife, Mavis (Pam Ferris) her husband, Frank (Jeffrey Robert) and their two sons: Colin (Tim Roth) and Mark (Phil Daniels) are all on the dole. They constantly get on each other's nerves, and feet. Mavis continually nags her husband Frank to get a job; Frank in turn, harasses his sons to find work, even though he doesn't seem to be making any effort himself. Colin is rather slow and quiet. His older brother is the total opposite: loud mouthed, self-opinionated and posses a cruel streak, often calling Colin "Kermit" and "Muppet" Looking for a job is is too hard: so they don't try. This that kind of self-defeatist logic, both Colin and mark are lucky to have a roof over their head and three square meals a day, even though their parents drive them demented. To relieve the boredom, Colin makes friends with an obnoxious skinhead named Coxy (Gary Oldman's first starring role). This gets up his brother's nose. Mark spends his time cadging money from friends or visiting the unemployment office. Their aunt Barbara (Marion Bailey) offers Colin a chance to earn some cash by helping her redecorate her home, but a jealous Mark, when he finds out, goes round to the house and begins to taunt Colin mercilessly before storming out. When Colin arrives back home his had his head shaved. He looks like a skinhead, but does not act like one. Note: "Meantime" was made at a time when the British Film Industry was under threat from funding cuts by the Thatcher government. Thatcher had little interest in the arts or in cinema, so it's a tribute to the tenacity of directors like Mike Leigh, who, in common with his fellow filmmakers, refused to be intimidated by the likes of Margaret Thatcher.

The raw, hard-hitting 'Meantime' (1983), exploring strong social and political issues of the day (mainly the high unemployment level), evokes the deep working-class despair of "Thatcher's Britain" in the early 1980's. Powerful and gritty in content, 'Meantime' shrewdly captures that era in British cultural history impeccably well. Although the film has its moments of humour, the film is overly razor-sharp and (in my opinion) ranks as one of Mike Leigh's very best films! This, of course, is also largely due to the impressive, stellar cast line-up, boasting the outstanding talents of the dynamic Phil Daniels, Tim Roth, Gary Oldman, Pam Ferris, Marion Bailey, Alfred Molina and Jeff Robert, who each possess the skill and talent of being able to improvise their scenes, proving to be highly effective in this case. The cast are all perfect in their naturalistic style of acting and carefully prepared, astutely observed and expertly structured characterisations.'Meantime' follows the working-class Pollack family, headed by Mavis (Pam Ferris) and Frank (Jeff Robert) who seemingly have little time for their sons, the mentally-challenged Colin (Tim Roth) and ever-sarcastic and troublesome Mark (Phil Daniels). The Pollack family live on a bleak, run-down council tower block on a rough estate, having to survive on unemployment benefits. All the long, frustrating years of poverty and incessant struggling have virtually made the family give up on life. They don't live, they just exist. They have no dreams or ambitions to speak of, all content on just plodding through life in the only way they know how. Tim Roth is totally superb as Colin. Colin hadn't had much of a chance or the best start in life, having had little encouragement given to him other than by his loving Aunty Barbara. Colin had been bullied incessantly and had the mickey taken out of him all his life. He is not retarded, though, as Tim Roth points out on the interview for this special edition DVD. Rather it's a case of him being severely psychologically damaged from all the years of bullying and being ordered around by others so he doesn't know how to think for himself and gradually over the years had sank deeper and deeper into himself. It must be said that the genuine humanity of the family becomes patently clear near the ending - they all love one another, just all the long , hard years of struggling and living in the grim block of flats had obviously taken its toll, grinding all of them down.Colin practically follows his older brother Mark (Phil Daniels) around like a loyal puppy, looking up to him and desperately wanting his friendship, love, respect and acceptance. Mark, though, sees Colin as a "muppet", makes fun out of him at every opportunity and orders him around, belittling him, yet loves and protects him at the same time. Eventually Colin befriends one of Marks mates Coxy (Gary Oldman), an even more mentally-challenged lad living on the same estate, who is a skinhead, racist and thug. Phil Daniels is, as always, brilliant in his role. In the first scene at Aunty Barbara's house, he appears completely arrogant and far from likable . Somehow, as the film progresses, you begin to warm to the character, not least down to Phil's excellent performance. You do feel hints of Marks frustration of him being unemployed and its like there's something in him that indeed does want to better himself in some way and find a way out of the dead end lifestyle he'd been living, but sadly not really knowing quite how.Gary Oldman is also superb as the mentally-challenged and seemingly deranged skinhead Coxy, who Colin mistakenly looks up to. There's a rather off-beat scene where Coxy tales Colin along to visit his girlfriend at her flat where his behaviour becomes more unhinged than ever. There's actually very little of Alfred Molina here, who is in a less interesting role as the superficial, two-timing John. His character has little time or affection for his increasingly frustrated and suppressed wife Barbara. The most touching (and my favourite) scenes are at the end of the film where Colin returns home to the flat after running out of Barbara's, wearing his parka jacket with the hood up; his parents shout at him and Mavis goes to clout him round the ear but Mark intervenes and protects him. Then much to all of their shock, Colin, uncharacteristically, stands up for himself, shouting back at them. From that point on a mutual respect and a deeper bond between Mark and Colin emerges, and they have a heart to heart while Mavis listens from outside the bedroom door and afterwards she (inadvertently) shows she does have feelings. The next morning Mark discovers Colin's skinhead (hence why he slept all night in his parka jacket with the hood up) and jokingly nicknames him Kojak - but this time, and unlike before, he's laughing with him not at him.'Meantime' is a true British classic and an interesting social document of its time. Utterly compelling from start to finish, not letting your attention lapse until the credits roll, this is a thoroughly absorbing, gritty drama with a top-notch, impressive cast. A pure masterpiece!Ian Phillips

What happens here happens in the space between events that usually constitute a plot, in the meantime. There are only temporary allegiances between characters, if at all, before one will turn on the other, destroying any impulse that reaches upwards, beyond the meantime. A film like this works or doesn't work depending on the acting. The characters are not merely collections of traits, they do not represent abstract ideas. Their complexity and opacity alone make or break the film, whether or not it is grounded in reality. No answers, only questions. No ideas, only experiences.I came to this after hearing solid praise for Mike Leigh's work.

Having watched this now after his latest film "All or nothing", I'm struck on how similar they are to each other. You could say "Meantime" was a early version "All or Nothing". There's far less light and shade, the drama and dialogue are quite relentless in "Meantime", which makes watching far harder. Notable for debut performances by Tim Roth and Gary Oldman, they along with the rest of the cast portray their characters with amazing believability. This is a minor work compared to some of his early works and all of his later ones, but it's still a major accomplishment and deserves to be seen by those who appreciate challenging drama. (6/10)