At the centre of Hard Truths, the latest tragicomedy from writer/director Mike Leigh, is a woman who seemingly seeks conflict in each of her interactions, making her personal relationships challenging in the process.
The woman – the embodiment of someone who tests patience and will, but still earns enough love from those that she hasn’t entirely disconnected with – is Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste, an absolute force of nature), a homebody of sorts, who has almost resigned herself to the confinements of her home, because every time she ventures outside she experiences vast negativity.
The irony is not lost that the common denominator in each of these experiences – arguments over parking spaces and supermarket line etiquette, as two prime examples – is Pansy herself, but she sees everyone else as the problem. Perhaps under different direction and in the hands of a less capable actress, Pansy would be insufferable to the point that we, as an audience, couldn’t bare to spend a feature length with her. Thankfully though, Leigh and Jean-Baptiste are the driving forces behind Hard Truths, which manages to maintain its interest through the nuanced layers of her character. It’s easy to be shocked at many of the words that come out of Pansy’s mouth – there’s an admittedly amusing rant early on in the film where she berates both dogs and babies – but as the 97 minutes roll on, the deeper issues of her existence become more apparent.
As a woman of colour you sense she fears for both her safety and that of her introverted son, Moses (Tuwaine Barrett), and it’s perhaps that feeling of being seen as “less than” that’s projected through her anger at the world. It doesn’t necessarily make her actions correct, but they’re understandable. Indeed, there’s the sense that the utter exhaustion Pansy experiences from her hatred of her surroundings is taking its toll to where she wants to be able to breathe and let go, but in all her stubborn pride, she simply can’t.
It’s her actions that also make the contrast between herself and her sister, Chantelle (Michele Austin), all the more stark, with Chantelle, though quite a regular person in reality, appearing all the more cheerful in comparison. The relationship formed between the two is one of Hard Truth‘s most fascinating, with Chantelle having no qualms in loving her bitter sister, seeing through her spitfire to the sadness that she truly lies in; a family gathering on Mother’s Day, where Pansy is convinced the true feelings of those around her will come to fruition, serving as the film’s most heartbreaking sequence as the truths learned by Pansy are entirely contrary to her beliefs.
A master at creating films with an inherent realism, Leigh’s inexplicably miserable protagonist should turn us away. Through his and Jean-Baptiste’s detailed craftsmanship, Pansy, cantankerous as she is, earns our compassion in droves, leaving the hardest truth of all being that her brokenness, both valid and put-upon, makes her as human – and as equal – as everyone else.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Hard Truths is now screening in Australian theatres.
