Naked

This beautiful 4K remaster of Mike Leigh’s Naked (for which he won Best Director at Cannes in 1993) doesn’t gloss over anything that made it as powerful as it was when first released in 1993. In fact it enhances the grimness of the people and settings; grey to black from twilight to night to day, and the colourless pallor of faces and skin.

The stinging attack on society on two fronts from the sharp mouthed wit of waster Johnny (David Thewlis) and his arrogant counterpart Sebastian/Jeremy (Greg Cruttwell). Foul creations of the 80’s with an instinct towards survival no matter what or who gets in the way.

By rights Johnny should cut a sympathetic figure but this is clouded by his ambiguous act at the start of the film and his treatment of everyone else. When he gets down to London to see his ex-girlfriend Louise (Lesley Sharp) he first meets her flatmate Sophie (Katrin Cartlidge). A vulnerable person whom Johnny is soon taking advantage of. Parallel to this Jeremy is obnoxious to his date and pulls the waitress later on for the sheer sake of it. It’s clear from these early scenes that these two are destined to meet.

It’ is however when we leave the flat and Johnny takes to London’s streets that we get to the core of the film; a macabre journey through the night. This is no City of London lit up cityscape, this is the pavement and gutter of the lost and the destitute.

A down and out Scot Archie (Ewen Bremner) calling out for ‘Maggie’ his girlfriend (Susan Vidler). He’s a pathetic individual, possibly drug addled and immune to Johnny’s sarcasm and observations. He finds her and they disappear into the night chasing and arguing.
Settling down in an office entrance he’s initially told to leave by Brian (Peter Wright) the security guard before he’s invited in. What follows is a jumble of freeform verbiage from Johnny, wilfully patronising Brian about his status. Brian is no fool fully aware of his lot equally aware that but he’s not likely to do anything about it.

The encounters continue each more torrid until he pushes too far and is punched by one then, badly beaten by others. The viewer can see these coming, even if the narcissistic Johnny can’t or won’t. Badly hurt he makes his way back to the flat he has a chance of some sort of redemption though the die is cast character wise.

The hangover of the Thatcher years are clear to see. Sebastian/Jeremy a dangerous but pathetic figure is the obvious nod towards big-bang city boys who wallowed in money with a sense of absolute power. At the other end is Archie a lost soul living hand to mouth in London. In-between people eking out a living or an existence; aspirations blasted and forced, in some cases, to abandon any self-respect they may have had.

Thewlis (who one Best Actor at Cannes in 1993) is electrifying as Johnny; a compulsive watch, a car crash of a person. A lazy though quick witted and intelligent individual, he’s a variation on the pub bore who’ll twist you ear, sober or not, with a supreme sense of self-worth yet having very little to show or offer. A distinctly unlikable character who may well have had a run of bad luck but is fundamentally deeply, deeply flawed and so dashing away any sympathy for him.

Naked is re-released into cinemas on 12 November with a Blu-ray to follow 22 November.