Happy-Go-Lucky

Happy-Go-Lucky

Written and directed by Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky is a delightful film about the day-to-day ups and downs in the life of the young 30 year old Londoner, Poppy. Accompanied by the cheerful music of Gary Yershon, the film opens with a scene of Poppy cycling through the streets of London, waving smilingly to people we don’t see to the left and right of her. It seems she is unable to keep her eyes on the road. Locking her bike up on a street corner, she discovers a small bookshop nearby. Going inside, she first looks at the book “The Road to Reality” by Roger Penrose, but quickly puts it back, saying “I don’t want to go there!” Indeed, she seems happiest in the Children’s Section. Persistently smiling at the bookshop attendant, she tries to engage him in conversation, but to no avail. “Having a bad day?” she finally asks him as she gravitates towards the door. “No.” he answers perplexed. “Not until I showed up, eh? Don’t worry I’m going now. Have a good day. Stay happy” she responds. Going back to her bike, she finds that it has been stolen. Surprised, she looks around, smiles and says “Oh no, I didn’t even have a chance to say good-bye.”

Then we see Poppy with four other women dancing to loud music in a crowed disco.

Wobbling back to their flat in the early morning, the party continues with all of them sitting around the coffee table giggling. Here, we learn that Poppy and Zoe are flat mates. Suzy is Poppy’s sister, while Dawn and Alice are friends. After the last three leave, Poppy and Zoe start making strange bird costumes out of paper bags and various pieces of cardboard and cloth. After trying one on, they both go off to the pub. What strange behavior. Who can Poppy and Zoe be? This is answered in the next scene, where we see Zoe and Poppy each bringing their bird costume materials to a school: they are both primary school teachers!

The third main teacher in the film is Scott, Poppy’s driving instructor. As total opposites, their...