‘Life is Sweet’: Dual Format Edition & Special BFI Event

❉ Dual Format release & BFI Event with Mike Leigh, Alison Steadman and Jane Horrocks.

Mike Leigh’s third feature, Life Is Sweet, remains one of the celebrated director’s most admired and affecting films. Life is Sweet depicts a summer in the life of a modern working-class family surviving in Thatcher’s Britain.

This Dual Format Edition also contains the previously unreleased comedy short A Running Jump (2012) and a raft of special features unreleased in the UK, including a newly filmed interview with Jane Horrocks and an audio commentary by Mike Leigh.


Andy (Jim Broadbent) is a professional chef and DIY enthusiast who buys a decrepit burger van. His wife Wendy (Alison Steadman) helps out with the launch of a Parisian-themed restaurant, The Regret Rien. One daughter, Nicola (Jane Horrocks), suffers from bulimia and is obsessed with men and Marxism, while the other, Natalie (Claire Skinner), is an apprentice plumber who dreams of escaping to America.

This hilarious yet tragic domestic portrait features a dazzling ensemble performance and remains a potent, true-to-life story.

Special Event

Launch Screening followed by Q&A at BFI Southbank (NFT1) on Thursday 28 September, 6.00pm, with special guests

This new Dual Format Edition will be launched with a screening at BFI Southbank (NFT1) followed by a Q&A with Mike Leigh, Alison Steadman and Jane Horrocks on 28 September. Tickets are on sale now (selling fast): www.bfi.org.uk/whatson

Special features

  • Presented in High Definition and Standard Definition
    A Running Jump (2012, 36 mins): a sports-infused comedy short starring Eddie Marsan, produced as part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad
  • An Interview with Jane Horrocks (2017, 14 mins): a newly filmed discussion with the acclaimed actress
  • Audio commentary with Mike Leigh
  • The Guardian Lecture: Mike Leigh in Conversation with Derek Malcolm (62 mins, audio only)
  • Original trailer
  • Stills gallery
  • Illustrated booklet with new writing by Ashley Clark and Will Massa, an original review and full credits

❉ ‘Life is Sweet: A film by Mike Leigh’ Dual Format Edition (Blu-ray/DVD) released on 18 September 2017, RRP: £19.99.

❉ BFI releases are available from all good home entertainment retailers or by mail order from the BFI Shop Tel: 020 7815 1350 or online at www.bfi.org.uk/shop


❉ News source: BFI Publicity

❉ We Are Cult is not responsible for the content of this news release.

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