Meantime (1984) ( Mean Time )

Meantime (1984) (DVD) (*)

~~$21.99~~ $15.97

Alternate Title: Mean Time
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Berlin International Film Festival
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Mono )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
102 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Cast/Crew Interview(s)
Interactive Menu
Production Notes
Scene Access
Special Edition
Storyboards

Movie filmed in 1984 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Mike Leigh

Written By:
Mike Leigh

Actors:
Marion Bailey ..... Barbara
Phil Daniels ..... Mark
Tim Roth ..... Colin
Pam Ferris ..... Mavis
Jeff Robert ..... Frank
Alfred Molina ..... John
Tilly Vosburgh ..... Hayley
Paul Daly ..... Rusty
Leila Bertrand ..... Hayley's Friend
Hepburn Graham ..... Boyfriend
Peter Wight ..... Estate Manager
Eileen Davies ..... Unemployment Benefit Clerk
Herbert Norville ..... Man in Pub
Brian Hoskin ..... Barman
Gary Oldman ..... Coxy

Synopsis:

Meantime centres on a East End family, the Pollacks - Mavis, Frank and their sons Mark and Colin - and their experience of unemployment, poverty and life in early 1980s Britain. When Colin comes under the influence of skinhead Coxy and when Mavis's better off sister Barbara offers Colin work, family tensions erupt into conflict. Mike Leigh's first independent film for five years has a superb cast of rising stars, including Gary Oldman, Alfred Molina, Tim Roth and Phil Daniels. First shown on television, it is a memorable and closely observed account of life in Thatcher's Britain.

Colin (Tim Roth, making his screen debut) and his brother Mark (Phil Daniels, who starred in Quadrophenia) are down and out. They live in a squalid flat with their unemployed father, Frank (Jeff Robert), and their put-upon mother, Mavis (Pam Ferris). They're on the dole, and Mark is constantly scrounging for cash and cadging drinks from his friends, among them Coxy (Gary Oldman in his screen debut), a skinhead. Colin, shy and perhaps mentally disabled, has a crush on a good-natured local girl, Hayley (Tilly Vosburgh). But when Coxy brings him over to her apartment, he can only watch helplessly as a rather ugly scene unfolds. Mark, who is constantly mocking Frank's hypocritical and outdated world view, also makes fun of Colin and calls him 'Kermit' and 'muppet.' Barbara (Marion Bailey, who would later appear in All or Nothing), the boys' middle-class aunt, drops by one day and offers Colin work helping her redecorate her house. Colin seems only mildly interested, but his parents pressure him to take the offer. Mark says that Barbara is exploiting Colin, but his family suspects that Mark is just resentful because Barbara didn't offer him the job. On Colin's first day, Mark turns up at Barbara's to learn that Colin hasn't shown up yet. As Mark and Barbara search the neighborhood for Colin, Mark makes insinuations about the state of Barbara's troubled relationship with her husband, John (Alfred Molina). Meantime, conceived and directed by Mike Leigh, was produced for British television, and shown at the 1984 Berlin International Film Festival.

An odd film, primarily looking at how the dole affects the underclass in Britain. Tim Roth stars as Colin, a slow and possibly retarded man living with his parents and brother in a housing project. He and his sarcastic manipulative brother still behave like teenagers, living with their parents, harassing each other. The problem is that they are in their late teens or twenties. Neighborhood characters include Hayley, a young woman with a crush on Colin, and Coxy (Gary Oldman) a violent local skinhead who befriends Colin. Trouble ensues when their wealthy aunt gives Colin a job and his brother becomes jealous.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 08 April, 2014.

Customers who bought this product also purchased

Lords of London (DVD)	The Fjällbacka Murders: The Coast Rider (Vol. 3) (Blu-Ray)	Five Thirteen (2013) (Blu-Ray)
The Fjällbacka Murders: In the Eye of the Beholder (Vol. 6) (Blu-Ray)	The Fjällbacka Murders: The Queen of Lights (Vol. 4) (Blu-Ray)	Penthouse North (Blu-Ray)