Marianne Jean-Baptiste triumphs at embodying vampiric rage in Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths

In a world of difficult people, Pansy may rank among the worst. Incarnated with a vampiric anger by Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Pansy moves through the world picking fights with loved ones and strangers alike. She’s a bitter woman with a seemingly infinite well of anger and resentment. It’s not a question of what will draw her ire but what won’t. Mike Leigh’s latest film, Hard Truths, continues his tradition of exploring the interiority of ‘difficult people,’ as he did with Naked, Another Year and Happy-Go-Lucky. 

The film’s first half is structured primarily around Pansy’s comings and goings. We are brought into the rhythm of her moods, which vary from annoyance to incandescent rage. Her attacks on the world seem irrational and unpredictable until, little by little, it becomes clear that she’s living a life crippled by fear. 

The experience of watching Hard Truths is one that doesn’t lead to easy answers. As the film moves forward, and we understand more of Pansy’s life and inner world, she becomes fuller and more sympathetic. Her hardness is no longer frightening but pitiful, as she navigates a loveless existence. Though many might argue that she herself has invited this dark shadow into her life, one senses that Pansy has never had much opportunity to bloom. She’s not only lived in service of others but was never equipped with the resources and support to come into her own.

Her prevailing loneliness is contrasted with the film’s upbeat look, which seems suited to a mainstream comedy. In fact, much of what Pansy says is hilarious. Her venomous wit is inventive and specific, revealing a keen sense of observation. Despite her rage, Pansy’s outbursts reveal a person who isn’t necessarily cut off from the world, but hyper-aware of it. The pain and exhaustion she feels have to do with navigating a world that feels so consistently overwhelming. The contrast between her worldview and the sunny toned landscapes feel like an insult to injury. It would almost be easier to withstand Pansy’s unhappiness if the world was as grey and solemn as her experience of it. 

Though the film is structured towards a greater understanding of Pansy and her motivations, the movie also turns outwards. Hard Truths feels like a part of a tradition of moral films in the style of Eric Rohmer, or even religious parables, which question the audience’s empathy and fortitude. Pansy’s sister, Chantelle, played by Michele Austin, undertakes radical love to help fix her sister. Austin’s performance, a cheerful but nuanced match to Jean-Baptiste’s, channels a resolute warmth that contains tremendous strength. The decisions she makes and the advice she offers her sister are anything but pat or obvious. It’s a film that seems to draw directly from the well of reality, one predicated on unpredictability and uncertainty. 

What makes Mike Leigh’s films so watchable and enduring as works of art has to do with his innate curiosity. Famously a director who works extensively with actors through rehearsal processes, we sense through his films an element of discovery that transcend observation and emerge only through performance and engagement with the world. Conclusions are not predetermined and intentions remain ambiguous. They’re films built more around behaviour than they are psychological analysis, allowing the performances to speak for themselves while also remaining shrouded in some level of ambiguity. 

Not everyone will have the patience to endure Pansy, and many won’t be able to extend her empathy. The challenge of a film like Hard Truths is that it needs to test the audience, the same way people in the world challenge our capacity for love and strength. Mike Leigh remains one of the most exciting filmmakers working today, and Hard Truths is unquestionably a film that will only become more compelling with additional viewings. As we discuss year-end lists and Oscar nominations, the omission of Marianne Jean-Baptiste reveals a fundamental unwillingness to engage with difficulty or ambiguity on behalf of the average voter. (She was nominated for several independent-film and critics’ awards, and has won a couple of them, for this role.) Her performance stands out as one of the richest in recent years. ■

Hard Truths opens in Montreal theatres on Friday, Jan. 24.

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