Product Details

• Actors: Philip Davis, Ruth Sheen, Edna Doré, Philip Jackson, Heather Tobias
• Directors: Mike Leigh
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: BFS Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: June 23, 2009
• Run Time: 109 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00274O88W
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,331 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "High Hopes" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

A film by six-time Oscar® nominee Mike Leigh

Academy Award® nominated writer/director Mike Leigh (Secrets & Lies) dissects the barriers of class in this daring and compelling black comedy set during Thatcher's England.

Cyril (Philip Davis - Vera Drake) and Shirley (Ruth Sheen - Run Fatboy Run) are a young, working-class couple who, in their struggle to make ends meet, have become absorbed in socialism. Cyril's sister Valerie (Heather Tobias - The Palace) and her husband aspire to a more privileged class. The only glue holding the siblings together is their withdrawn and wistful old mother (Edna Doré - The Bill). While the country faces social discontent, each of these characters fights for their own version of survival as the world around them plummets rapidly into an era of political upheaval and confusion.

WINNER / FIPRESCI Prize / Venice Film Festival

WINNER / Peter Sellers Award for Comedy Mike Leigh / Evening Standard British Film Awards

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Long overdue to region 1 DVD!, June 26, 2009

By 

Bob Rousseau (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: High Hopes (DVD)

I've been waiting for "High Hopes" to appear as a Region 1 DVD for a long time. It's the film that introduced me to Mike Leigh's films some 20 odd years ago, and what a glorious adventure it's been! The fantastic ensemble cast includes long-time Leigh actor Philip Davis as an aging leftist motorcycle messenger trying to grapple with a mother who is heading towards probable dementia, a girlfriend who wants to have children while he himself isn't sure children should be brought into the world, and a nouveau riche sister who is all about style over substance. While it's been argued that the affluent characters in the film are presented with less dimension than the others, Leigh doesn't hesistate to portray the leftist characters as baffled about how to turn words into actions. This film is also another example of Leigh's amazing talent for chronicling family dysfunction which he continued to utilize in later films like "Secrets and Lies". This piece is well worth your time!

3 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars no subtitles, August 28, 2010

By 

R BALAKRISHNAN (Mumbai, Maharashtra India) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: High Hopes (DVD)

A lovely film with poor sound quality and no subtitles in english to make up for it. Bad buy.