THE ILLUSIONIST

I went to see the new Mike Leigh film on Sunday: ANOTHER YEAR. The acting was excellent but, as always, I watch films with the writer's ear alert. He has the skill of the illusionist to convince us we are listening to 'real' conversations. All right, so we know the Mike Leigh method: the impro the shock tactics i.e. Vera Drake but, as I  say to my students, fictional dialogue and just lifting an overheard conversation are very different kettles of fish. With fictional dialogue gone are the ums and ers, the side tracking, the unfinished sentences. This is selection even if done as superbly as it is in ANOTHER YEAR. I recommend anyone who is interested in writing dialogue to go and see this film.