Maybe in 90's London women slept with random abusive stinky men who talk gibberish at them, and security guards let them into buildings at night cheerfully, but in the world I live in this sort of stuff never happens 99.9% of the time. I remember when I was at film school most of my classmates were in awe of this film. I was one of the few who had the guts to stand up and say "What the heck is so damned special about 'Naked'?" People looked at me like I was from Mars. But when I saw what kind of scripts my classmates wrote I understood everything: nobody wants to be concerned with plot and character development, they just want to rant and rave and philosophize and do cool shots (which Naked has none of, btw). That said I do enjoy some of Thewlis's performances, as well as that of the rest of the cast, but there really is no overarching point to the film other than "life sucks and then it ends". I don't care to be treated to such a 'stinking omelette' despite however good the cast might be.

Naked is written and directed by Mike Leigh. It stars David Thewlis, Lesley Sharp, Katrin Cartlidge, Greg Cruttwell, Claire Skinner, Peter Wright, Ewen Bremner and Gina McKee. Music is by Andrew Dickinson and cinematography by Dick Pope.Johnny (Thewlis) is an unemployed wastrel who has to flee Manchester after indulging in his sexually violent proclivities. Heading for London to seek out an old girlfriend, Johnny encounters a number of people more hapless and lost than he is.Proles, Plebs and Potheads.Mike Leigh's brutal and raw character study remains as potent today as it was on release in post Thatcher Britain. Sometimes coined as a film for masochists or misogynists, Naked is actually for neither. For sure it isn't setting out to cheer you up, it's relentlessly restless and intense, it doesn't cut corners or operate under a banner of political convenience. Yet it does have intelligent depth to the point where the deeper you dig the more troubling Leigh's observations become. This allows Leigh and his brilliant cast to leave indelible images, to bring out themes that simply refuse to leave the conscious, where the observation of a society filled with sad, lonely and desperate people provides the discomfort of the human form stripped, well, naked.Ever seen a dead body?Only my own…Johnny is an intellectual, an intelligent man, even charming, he can chat freely on the world and man's existence in it. But he has unhealthy appetites and a knack for latching onto emotional discord. Posit this with a backdrop of dirty streets, cheap cafés and grungy flats, and there's a starkness about the narrative that scars the soul, aided considerably by Dickinson's edgy violin based score and Pope's stripped back colour photography. A concurrent character study with that of Johnny is that of Jeremy/Sebastian (Cruttwell), the definition of Yuppiedom gone wrong, the devil with a Filofax who is both cruel and predatory, he's the polar opposite of scruffy Johnny, but both represent a London that's far from the bright lights and big city so many hopeless dreamers set off in search of.A sick boy in search of Booze, Beans and a Bath.The Jeremy/Sebastian axis feels very much like satire, this also is something that makes Naked so strong, it is quite often funny. True, the humour here is clinical and comes in spiked barbs, but there are laughs to be had here, the kind that deftly dovetail with a pervading sense of bleakness, finding wit in the most unlikely of places. What is Leigh trying to say in all this? As usual he isn't offering up solutions to his questions, he demands you observe and respond, while he asks his actors to take the material and respond in kind, which they do, led by a quite extraordinary performance by Thewlis. Cannes agreed, awarding Thewlis with the Best Actor Award whilst also bestowing Leigh with the Best Director Award. Both were richly deserved.Never gratuitous, Naked is a sensitive and thoughtful film, yes it's tough to witness at times, it's meant to be, but this is a searing masterpiece that demands to be seen more than once. 10/10

The title of Mike Leigh's film "naked" does not describe a physical state but a state of mentality that the characters of the film face. These people have no jobs, no relationships, no families, and barely have an existence in a hyper realistic anarchy- a dark and bitter world created by the brilliant British director: mike Leigh. The film is set in a deeply depressing London. The characters we meet are so desperate and this is a desperate film. The hero is Jonnie, a 27 year old man who struggles to exist in the world he lives in. his desperation is one of the most devastating depictions of devastation I have ever seen on film. We first see him raping a woman and then stealing a car. What a brutal introduction to one of the most brutal relationships of an audience with a main character. The series of events the follow are mesmerizing. Every turn Jonnie takes, he meets a character who faces desperation much like his own. The film's plot progresses to a melting pot of desperate, psychopath and devastating characters. This film is a masterpiece. It features one of the most heartbreaking performances of all time by the brilliant actor: David Thewlis. Another performance I won't ever forget was from Katrin Cartilidge playing the character of Sophie. Her existence on screen is so weak yet so strong, her fragility is fascinating. Mike Leigh creates a world so bitter and sad in order to create cinematic poetry. This film's philosophic takes on life and humanity are so bleak, bold and honest. Hearing these takes is like getting punched in the stomach. This film had such a deep effect on me. I had trouble completing my day. It is nightmarish, bold, dark, devastating and ultimately, masterful.

A weird film! The good bit is David Thewlis' Existential p**s-taking discourse with everyone he comes across - the bad bit is - everything else. Also, it's way too long. The charm had worn off. Ends up being long-winded and pointless - whereas had it been shorter it would have been bitter-sweetly succinct. Johnny, is the archetypal street philosopher, though instead of being a wise vagabond - he is in fact an on the run vagrant - on the run from life, that is. Also - who the f**k is Sebastian?All of that aside though, I have a real problem with Mike Leigh's films. He tries TOO hard to come across as authentic and real - and this effort becomes so conspicuous that it clouds everything else and it's all you can see. His films aren't authentic and real - they're the opposite of that - they're overdone and contrived. Most of his stuff ends up being a bunch of middle-class loveys performing their perception of an Idyll of plucky, chirpy, working-class folk! I suspect that the only thing that saves this film from becoming that, is the intensive involvement of Thewlis in developing the script and dialogue.Basically Leigh's approach in depicting authentic realistic working class characters, ends up producing a facsimile that is strikingly recognisable to the original article - but one that exaggerates the more obvious features - to a cringe-making degree. He creates cinematic caricatures.