Mike Leigh’s award-winning NAKED will have a special screening at the IFC Center on April 25
NAKED (Mike Leigh, 1993)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St.
Thursday, April 25, 7:00
212-924-7771
www.ifccenter.com
In writer-director Mike Leigh’s controversial Naked, David Thewlis is mesmerizing as Johnny, a drifter on the run from Manchester who shows up at the London apartment of an old girlfriend, Louise (Lynda Steadman), and develops a strange attraction for Louise’s roommate, Sophie (the excellent Katrin Cartlidge). Leigh, who earned Best Director honors at Cannes for the film, fills Naked with desperate characters, desolate streets, and plenty of graphic, lurid detail. Thewlis won numerous acting awards for his brilliant portrayal of a very difficult character for the audience to care about, especially in a film that runs more than two hours. Sitting through Naked is an exhausting, infuriating, ultimately rewarding experience; among the best scenes are the philosophical conversations Johnny has with the night watchman (Peter Wight). Naked is screening in a high-definition digital projection on April 25 as part of the IFC Center series “The Modern School of Film” and will be followed by a discussion with Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam.