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.
Review of Meantime
