'Life is Sweet' Announced for Blu-ray

Mike Leigh's acclaimed 1990 dramedy is getting the Criterion Blu-ray treatment in May.

In an early announcement to retailers, Criterion has announced 'Life is Sweet' on May 28.

This moving film is an intimate, invigorating, and amusing portrait of a working-class family in a suburb just north of London—an irrepressible mum and dad (Alison Steadman and Jim Broadbent) and their night-and-day twins, a bookish good girl and a sneering layabout (Claire Skinner and Jane Horrocks). In it, Leigh and his typically brilliant cast create, with extra­ordinary sensitivity and craft, a vivid, lived-in story of ordinary existence, in which even modest dreams (such as the father’s desire to open a food truck) carry enormous weight. Perched on the line between humor and melancholy, 'Life Is Sweet' is captivating, and it was Leigh’s first international sensation.

The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 soundtrack, and supplements will include: New audio commentary featuring director Mike Leigh; Audio recording of a 1991 interview with Leigh at the National Film Theatre in London; and a booket featuring an essay by critic David Sterritt.

Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.95.

You can find the latest specs for 'Life is Sweet' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under May 28.