Naked and Other Screenplays by Mike Leigh collects several of the acclaimed British filmmaker’s scripts, including the dark, unflinching Naked (1993). The book showcases Leigh’s distinctive approach to storytelling — raw, improvised, and deeply rooted in character psychology and social realism.
In Naked, Leigh presents Johnny, a brilliant but bitter drifter who wanders through London spouting apocalyptic philosophy and cruel wit while leaving emotional wreckage in his wake. The screenplay captures the film’s haunting mix of bleak humor, existential despair, and moral ambiguity.
Alongside Naked, the collection includes other Leigh works that dissect ordinary lives with compassion and precision, revealing the tensions between class, desire, and disillusionment in late-20th-century Britain. It’s both a study in dialogue-driven filmmaking and a portrait of human fragility rendered with brutal honesty and dark poetry.
