Naked

By Maddalena Dottori
12/08/2009

Mike Leigh's 1993 film Naked tells the disheartening but appalingly funny story of Johnny (David Thewlis), a quick-witted Mancunian fleeing to London in fear of repercussions for having raped a woman.
There he finds his ex-girlfriend Louise (Lesley Sharp) and engages in a violent and self-destructive sexual liaison with Louise's flatmate Sophie (Katrin Cartlidge). Feeling suffocated by his needy and fragile new lover, Johnny leaves and starts wandering the street of a grim and desolate London, meeting a series of bizarre and alienated characters: a Tourette-addled teenage runaway from Scotland, a lonely night warden who fantasises on a ageing beauty living across the street , a vulnerable coffee shop waitress and a sadistic and odious yuppie.
David Thewlis didn't get his deserved Oscar nomination, but his work here is extraordinary. Thewlis creates an amazing and complex character. Johnny certainly can be reckless and brutal at times, but, nevertheless, his fiery intelligence and wit are undoubtedly very entrancing.  We are unable to completely despise him for his actions, although, at the same time, we will never ground for him, not even when he's at his most vulnerable.
Mike Leigh is a master in portraying even the most uncomfortable and difficult aspects of British society, and Naked, which launched Leigh's international career, is no exception. The Palm d'Or at Cannes in 1994 is certainly well-deserved.