By Alex Ritman
Plus IconAlex Ritman
@alexritman See All Add us as a Google Preferred Source
Add us as a Google Preferred Source 
Getty Images for BFI U.K. audiences aren’t usually ones to give standing ovations, but when one of their most cherished filmmakers makes a final bow, unwritten rules are allowed to be broken.
This was certainly the case for Mike Leigh, who on Thursday received a hero’s welcome at the London Film Festival premiere of “Tender Loving Care,” a film he’s said will likely be his last.
The director — an icon of British cinema with a celebrated body of work that includes “Secrets & Lies,” “Naked,” “Vera Drake” (which opened the 2004 London Film Festival), “Happy-Go-Lucky” and “Topsy-Turvey” — was welcomed to the stage ahead of the screening with applause, cheers and, after a few seconds, with almost the entire room at London’s Royal Festival Hall rising to their feet in appreciation.
Related Stories
