synopsis:

'MEANTIME' is a bleak portrait of life in England after Thatcherism began to take hold, sucking the lifeblood out of the working class.

The Pollack family - Frank, Mavis, and their sons Markand Colin - live in a rented apartment in a run-down building in London's East End. The men are all unemployed, which causes tension between the vociferous Mark and his frustrated father; to slow-witted Colin, it's all the same. They pay a strained visit to Mavis's sister, Barbara, at the suburban house where she lives with her husband John. Mark and Colin spend much of their time at the local pub, with friends like Coxy, a noisy skinhead and Hayley, to whom both Colin and Coxy are attracted. Barbara comes by the Pollacks' apartment to offer Colin a job painting her house. While she is there, the superintendent stops by to examine a broken window. He and Barbara chat, sharing the same condescending attitudes toward the less fortunate.

On Colin's first day of work, Mark goes by Barbara's house to visit him, only to find that he never arrived. When he does show up, he refuses to talk to either his brother or aunt, feeling that Mark is trying to steal his job (actually, Mark tried to talk him out of it, feeling that Barbara was patronizing him). After Mark leaves, Colin does too. He stops by to visit Hayley, who sends him away. When he comes home, he ashamedly refuses to take off the hood of his jacket; it isn't until the next morning that Mark discovers that he got his head shaved, in emulation of Coxy, the neo-nazi he becomes more and more influenced by.

about this movie:

A plot summary isn't the proper way to describe 'MEANTIME' , more a film of mood and atmosphere than story. director mike Leigh captures a milieu where middle-aged men like Frank are horrified to realize that the dole has become a way of life for them, while younger men like his sons who have grown up with it don't know what else there is to hope for. The film was a substantial hit with young Brits, who had rarely seen their own situation depicted on film.'Meantime', starring Marion Bailey, Phil Daniels (also starring in Quadrophenia), Tim Roth, Pam Ferris and Jeff Robert, was produced for British television, and shown at the 1984 Berlin International Film Festival.