“Why can’t you enjoy life?”
Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths is a character study of life that cannot conquer fear. Leigh’s films often have much more to do with character than plot, and his particular method of filmmaking without a script often leads to wonderful results and performances as it does here.
Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) faces each day with anger. She rages (to the point of being humorous) against everyone and everything. Her husband and son are frequent targets of her wrath, but even checking out at a grocery store can become a battlefield. We perceive that her anger is a wall that she erects to protect herself from her fears of the world around her. She is agoraphobic and suffers from physical ailments.
Her sister (Michele Austin) is Pansy’s polar opposite. She is friendly and outgoing. She laughs freely. She and her two daughters have a warm, caring relationship. She works in a salon where she shares her kindness with her patrons.
In many ways, her sister is Pansy’s best hope of finding a bit of solace. While others just put up with Pansy or respond in kind, her sister is the one person who let’s her rant without taking offense, and even responds with kindness.
The dichotomy of these two characters and the thorny relationship they share is the real focus of the film. Jean-Baptiste, who was nominated for an Oscar for Leigh’s 1996 film Secrets & Lies, has created an amazing character. Pansy may seem a bit one-dimensional at first, as she lashes out at the world, but we soon see that there is pain and fear that fills her life as well. We may also sense a longing for connection, but who would be willing to connect with her—other than her sister?
There is a sense of grace in the relationship. We may wonder how long Pansy’s marriage will last, given her self-centeredness and the anger she constantly spews, but her sister is a constant. She tells Pansy, “I don’t understand you, but I love you.” That given may be something that Pansy can begin to build on, but we are left to wonder if she will begin to find a way to relate to the world with anything other than anger and fear. We hope so, because it has to be terribly dark and lonely inside the walls she has built.
Hard Truths is in limited release.
