Music and Film: Andrew Dickson

Music Master Class

Sigfried Tesche

Vera Drake
Director: Mike Leigh, GB/F/NZ 2004, 125 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
Actors: Imelda Staunton, Richard Graham, Eddie Marsan, Music: Andrew Dickson


A working class neighbourhood in 1950s London. Vera Drake, who works as a cleaner to support her family, is a good-hearted soul who also helps women who are "in trouble" by performing abortions. When one of these goes wrong, Vera’s secret is discovered by the police.




Paradies, Brooklyn (Someone else's America)
Director: Goran Paskaljevic, GB/F/D/GR 1995, 96 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
Actors: Tom Conti, Miki Manojlovic, Maria Casares, Music: Andrew Dickson


Brooklyn, the American nation's crucible. Bayo, an illegal immigrant from Montenegro, lives with Alonso and his blind mother in a bar called "Paradise". While Alonso's mother wants to return home to Spain to die there, Bayo's mother and children embark on the journey to the "promised land America".




Lügen und Geheimnisse (Secret & Lies)
Director: Mike Leigh, GB 1996, 142 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
Actors: Timothy Spall, Brenda Blethyn, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Music: Andrew Dickson


Hortense, a young black optometrist, discovers that her birth mother is white and poor. After overcoming her initial shock, her mother introduces Hortense to her dysfunctional, working-class family as a "colleague". Andrew Dickson won the ASCAP Film Score Award for his wonderful, melancholic music.




Nackt (Naked)
Director: Mike Leigh, GB 1992, 132 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
Actors: David Thewlis, Lesley Sharp, Katrin Cartlidge, Music: Andrew Dickson


Johnny, an unemployed man from Manchester, comes to London to live with his ex. One night he wanders the streets of London, tormenting those around him with his powerfully eloquent nihilism. Cold, cynical and aggressive, Johnny is the epitome of a modern anti-hero.




Hohe Erwartungen (High Hopes)
Director: Mike Leigh, GB 1988, 110 min, 16 mm, colour, OV
Actors: Philip Davis, Ruth Sheen, Edna Doré, Music: Andrew Dickson


London, in and around the King’s Cross area. A comedy about some likeable society dropouts living in a state of strife with neurotic suburbanites. Andrew Dickson won the European Film Award for "Best Composer".




All or Nothing
Director: Mike Leigh, GB/F 2002, 128 min, 35 mm, colour, GV
Actors: Timothy Spall, L.Manville, Alison Garland, Music: Andrew Dickson


A working-class family living in a run-down South London housing estate. Here we meet the phlegmatic taxi driver Phil, his partner Penny, who works in a supermarket, and their two overweighed children. Leigh’s strength lies in the combination of realism with some silver linings on the horizon.




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