Mike Leigh OBE FRSL is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter, and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design, and the London School of Film Technique.
Who was Mike Leigh influenced by?
Leigh has also cited Beckett and Pinter as influences, and one can certainly see them in his work, in the tragi-comedy, the use of silence, the regular appearance of one or more characters who seem aware of the absurd pointlessness of what they do, yet know they are compelled like a mouse on its wheel to do it again and again and again.It is Leigh’s respect for the character which makes him a vital artist. Inspired by the likes of E.M. Forster, ‘because he deals with his characters both passionately and dispassionately; the character is always at the center, but there’s always a high degree of objectivity as well,’ Leigh has been responsible for some of the most notable creations in modern British cinema and theatre.