I just finished watching Happy-Go-Lucky on DVD, and now I know exactly why this film earned so many awards both here in the U.S. and in Britain. If you haven’t seen it, this needs to go on your Netflix list or better yet, buy a copy so you can watch it and then loan it to your friends. Writer/Director Mike Leigh was nominated for an Academy Award for this screenplay about Poppy (Sally Hawkins), a perpetually happy 30 year old London schoolteacher who loves her life. She enjoys working with her grade school class, has a close-knit group of friends including her roommate Zoe,  sister Suzy, and pals Alice and Helen.

The film starts out with Poppy blissfully happy yet seemingly unaware of the world around her- she attempts to engage a bookstore clerk in conversation and doesn’t even seem to notice that he has no interest in talking to her. When her bicycle is stolen, her reaction is to say “I didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye”, then enroll in driving lessons. She agrees to accompany the headmaster of her school to Flamenco dance lessons,  exercises by jumping on a giant trampoline, even tries to cheerfully deal with a class bully.

Slowly, however, the real world begins to intrude on Poppy’s enthusiasm. She encounters a homeless man, witnesses the Flamenco dance teacher’s emotional meltdown in class, discovers the real reason her pupil is hitting other kids, and in the most surprising element of the film, finds that her driving instructor Scott is a seething ball of hatred and anger. She takes one driving lesson a week, and each subsequent lesson reveals more and more of Scott’s paranoid, intolerant view of the world and the people in it.

The last few scenes of the film show Poppy finally having to face that not everyone is as happy as she is.  I was completely unprepared for her final confrontation with Scott,  and found myself on the edge of my seat waiting for her to finally explode with frustration. Instead, she manages to diffuse the situation with a calm tenderness, but her final scene showing her walking home from the encounter leaves one wondering if Poppy will continue to view the world with such optimism. I’d like to think she will.

Did you see Happy-Go-Lucky? I’d love to know your thoughts about it, please leave a comment!