One of last year’s finest performances came from Lesley Manville, who played a lonely alcoholic named Mary in director Mike Leigh’s (Happy-Go-Lucky) critically acclaimed drama, Another Year.  The film follows a year in the life of a group of friends, as they dine with happily married couple Tom and Gerri (Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen).  But life, as most of these dinner guests understand, is not exactly a bed of roses.  “It’s a difficult film to describe, then people say, ‘what’s it about,’” said Manville, who has known Leigh since 1979.  “It’s hard, really, because it’s about the stuff of life, isn’t it?  And I think that’s why the film travels well and is being understood in different countries.  It’s not a quintessential British film, it’s British by default.  It’s a film that deals with hearts and souls, so that’s universal.”  The film ends with a close-up of Mary’s forlorn face, and this writer asked if she ever wonders about her character’s fate.  Click on the media bar to hear Manville’s answer: 

  Lesley Manville was named Best Actress by the National Board of Review for her work in Another Year, which is now playing in limited release.

Find Us On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com

Follow Us On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/hollyoutbreak

posted by Greg Srisavasdi