London middle class Jewish accountant Lionel is preparing for his son's bar mitzvah when he does a little favour for a friend, and ends up getting mixed up with the Mafia.
Dexter, un actor que lleva varios años encasillado en papeles de "un tipo alto", se enamora de una enfermera que expresa siempre lo que siente. Cuando por fin Dexter consigue un papel en una musical importante "El hombre elefante", su novia le deja porque sospecha que tiene una aventura con una de las actrices de la obra teatral...
Helena loves Bertram, but he's of noble birth, while she's just a doctor's daughter. But Bertram is at the court of the King of France, who is ill, and Helena has a remedy that might cure him and win her the right to marry Bertram. But does Bertram want to marry her?
Slice-of-life look at class divisions among employees of a brokerage house. Alan, with his portrait of the Queen and love of the peerage; his wife April, who raises cats; youthful and pretentious friends Nigel, Giles, and Anthony, who gather for a wine-soaked dinner party with the chatty and risque Samantha and the mousy Caroline; the plummy Lord and Lady Crouchurst, in a spot of bother needing the help of Francis, a senior partner, to assist with the family's cash flow. Alan comes home from work to find Mr. Shakespeare doing a photo shoot of one of April's cats and a wealthy stranger, Miss Hunt, waiting to purchase one. His instincts for sycophantic palaver kick in.
Sylvia, contable en una oficina, vive con su hermana Hilda, que es algo retrasada, y su pasión es la lectura y tomarse unas copas por la noche. Hilda odia a Peter, un profesor de escuela interesado por las hermanas, pero quiere a Norman, un hippie que trabaja en el garaje de Sylvia, imprimiendo un periódico underground. Sólo cuando Norman toca la guitarra, las cosas parecen fluir amablemente. Todo lo demás es sufrimiento, desorden y oscuridad. Primer largometraje de Mike Leigh que versa sobre la soledad y la incomunicación de los seres humanos.
