Career Girls (1997)

2 young women reunite and rekindle their friendship after having said goodbye at their college graduation, six years earlier.

Director:

Mike Leigh

Writer:

Mike Leigh

Stars:

Katrin Cartlidge, Lynda Steadman, Kate Byers

4 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Katrin Cartlidge	...	Hannah Mills
Lynda Steadman	...	Annie
Kate Byers	...	Claire
Mark Benton	...	Ricky Burton
Andy Serkis	...	Mr. Evans
Joe Tucker	...	Adrian Spinks
Margo Stanley	...	Mrs. Burton, Ricky's Nan
Michael Healy	...	Lecturer

Storyline

Career girls opens with a train journey towards London's Kings Cross where Annie, one of the major characters is about to meet her old university friend Hannah. She recalls moving into a grotty student flat with Hannah in the mid-eighties. In those days Annie was self conscious and jumpy. The pair have not seen one another since graduation. They both now have moderately successful careers and are, at least on the surface, self assured in their new lives. However, they are still carrying a lot of emotional baggage from their university days. During the course of a weekend they rediscover their close friendship and encounter many faces from the past.

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Plot Keywords:

college | roommate | reunited friends | flashback | misfit | 

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Taglines:

This Holliday Weekend spend in the company of women

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexuality

Details

Country:

UK France

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 August 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Career Girls - uranaisia

Filming Locations:

King's Cross Station, King's Cross, London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$93,303 (USA) (8 August 1997)

Gross:

$2,506,039 (USA) (17 October 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Channel Four Films, Thin Man Films, Matrix Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Hannah: This isn't a bordello you know, you can't just walk into any boudoir and choose a different bint!

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Connections

References Vertigo (1958)

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Soundtracks

"The Caterpillar"
Performed by The Cure
Written by Robert Smith & Laurence Tolhurst

User Reviews

Does "Career Girls" confirm Mike Leigh as being a true genius?

With "Career Girls," Mike Leigh almost reaches the sheer greatness of his 1995 picture "Secrets & Lies," with yet another thought provoking study of modern British life. Ignore the sneers and criticisms that some critics felt the film deserved on its release:- They either weren't paying enough attention, or simply didn't understand what was going on. Although it's true that "Career Girls" lacks the more conventional plotting of his earlier film, Leigh is able to make up for it in this film's character studies and wonderfully observational dialogue. The 'Story' is relativly simple; the film charts the ups and downs of two London polytechnic students, Hannah and Annie, during the mid to late 1980's, interweaving their day to day lives in with their lives today, seven years later in the 1990's, when they decide to meet up again for the weekend in London. During the forty eight hours they spend together, a series of coincidences reconcile them with faces from their student lives, digging up a mixture of bad and good memories all over again. Doesn't sound interesting? Well, actually, it's a marvellous film. Amongst the dozens of observations Leigh makes in the movie's 90 minute running time is the way that, although many years have past since our protagonists have been together, the difficult and often painful relationship between them is still very much alive and kicking. It even creates parallels between events that occurred years ago to events that occur during the weekend over which much of the movie is set, suggesting all the more that perhaps people and relationships can never truly change, and that time isn't such a healer after all. The performances are nearly always excellent, with the two leads giving it all they've got in semi-spontaneous roles. Leigh's direction always keeps the viewer entertained and involved, and his usage of gorgeous colour to represent the change in eras is perfect; the usage of a blue tint for the 1980's scenes is a stroke of genius, and adds a suitably cold and harsh tone to the sequences. There's also plenty of humour in there too, including a wonderful series of scenes where our two girls pay a visit to a most peculiar apartment owner on the London Docklands. "Career Girls" is another absolute, utterly rewatchable gem from Mike Leigh, and, following on from such classics as "Naked," and, indeed, "Secrets and Lies," the only assumption I can make about the Stafford-born filmmaker is that if he isn't a true genius, he must be on the verge of being one!