Secrets and Lies | Timothy Spall, Phyllis Logan | Classic Mike Leigh flick finally makes it to DVD

Secrets and Lies | Timothy Spall, Phyllis Logan | One of my favorite films

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Secrets and Lies

	Secrets and Lies Timothy Spall, Phyllis Logan 20th Century Fox, 2005 average customer review:based on 66 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Classic Mike Leigh flick finally makes it to DVD

Dysfunction is better than no function at all in Mike Leigh's "Secrets and Lies". Finally available on DVD to coincide with the Oscar nomination actress Imelda Staunton received for "Vera" (another film directed by Leigh), "Secrets and Lies" tells the story of a successful and well-to-do black woman Hortense Cumberbatch ( Oscar nominated Marianne Jean-Baptiste of "Without a Trace") who tracks down her birth mother. It seems her mother was a lower-class white woman named Monica Purley (Brenda Blethyn, Golden Globe winner and multiple Oscar nominee). Monica denies that she's Hortense's mother but gradually comes to accept and embrace her daughter despite their differences. A bittersweet comedy full of commanding performances, "Secrets and Lies" was a surprising box office success (hence its recognition by the Academy and the multiple nominations it deservedly earned). With rewarding performances all around and Leigh's naturalistic style, "Secrets and Lies" was a winner whether or not it pulled down any gold at Oscar time. Not bad for a guy who used to play in a band with Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music fame.

Many of Leigh's films feature uncompromising performances and partially improvised scripts. This collaborative method makes Leigh's films both unique and memorable even when they aren't very good. Luckily, "Secrets and Lies" is very, very good.

Sadly, this is a pretty bare bones affair. We get the original theatrical trailer and the theatrical trailers for "Author! Author!", "Blood & Wine" and "Class Action". It's a pity as 10 years on, it might have been interesting to catch up with the actors and the impact that their Oscar nominations had on their respective careers. There's also no commentary track but the drama speakes pretty well for itself.

A terrific, bittersweet comedy "Secrets and Lies" details the ordinary secrets we keep to ourselves and hide from each other. Leigh's marvelous direction and the ensemble cast's terrific performances elevate this from a simple movie-of-the-week on something like the Lifetime channel. Leigh's inspired approach to improvising much of the movie's dialogue with his cast (based on his character sketches and background story) creates a drama that is much closer to neo-realism in approach than just about any other film made within the last two decades. Although Leigh's made a number of stunning films, "Secrets and Lies" certainly deserves its reputation as one of his finest glimpses behind the curtain of subterfuge that's a part of the ordinary people in this terrific story.

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One of my favorite films

If you want to see a great film, look no further. From plot to performance, you won't do better than this movie. Excellent direction. One of my favorite scenes is the scene where mother and daughter are having one of their first conversations, both facing the camera. Such rich performances by everyone make it a joy to see. I wish there were more films out there like this one.

Wonderfully funny and moving

If you're a fan of Brenda Blethyn, this is a film not to be missed. Cynthia [Blethyn] has spent her entire life searching for love. Each time she thought she'd found it, she was left holding the baby. She's looked after her father until his death, and remained in the dilapidated rented home, working at a factory.
Cynthia's brother Maurice [Timothy Spall] is a successful photographer whose wife has little time for Cynthia. These two women are both jealous of what the other has.
Set in London, the time could just as easily be today or 30 years ago as Maurice plans 21st birthday celebrations for his niece. A few glasses of bubbly and all the secrets and lies of more than two decades unfold. Wonderfully funny and moving.

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Adoption's secret side revealed...

I love films, and I loved this film. But as an adoptee, in the process of reunion (in the states, where it is unecassarily, and painfully harder to search), this film touched places in me that it couldn't for the other reviewers.
My reunion has been eerily similar to the characters' in this film-
an Aunt, who thought my sister had a right to know about me, who loved her nieces and resented their mother for squandering her oppurtunity at motherhood, when she couldn't have the children she so desperately wanted, and who finally faced the truth of that resentment, and the reality of her situation.
A birthmother, who though she can't quite get it together, for the love of her children, tries to reach within herself to find the strength to face her past, to turn to the truth instead of secrets.
The quiet person in the background that holds everyone together, when they are trying their best to tear themselves apart -that would be the photographer in the film- who, although seemingly disinterested with his job a times, it's quite clear it's his only escape from the dysfunction of his family, and the only light in his existence.
The adoptee- who, though she wants to know her roots so badly, is ill prepared for these wounds that have run so deep, for so long. She doesn't want to displace anyone in the process of the reunion, but fights her own internal needs constantly, so she can get some peace and closure, and not just have the door slammed in her face. Although she has done well for herself, you can see in Hortense' eyes, that piece of herself is missing, that part of herself that isn't like anyone else she's known in her life. That is the burden you can see visibly lifted of Hortense' shoulders in the final scenes, and you can even see those little pieces finding their way back into everyone's hearts.
Some of the looks, and emotions you can see Hortense going through, are ones I just felt a month ago, or even last week. Unless you have walked in her shoes, you couldn't know what some of the looks she gives Monica mean. For me, though, those looks were some of the most poignant moments in the film. This film definetely has all the elements of a great film, but more importantly to me, is how accurate this film can be when looking at the reality of reunions, what they are about, what they feel like. The fact is, reunions bring out all the skeletons in the closet, they reveal the truth, in the end, there are no more secrets and lies, (perhaps that's why people have fought here in the state's to keep the records sealed).
It's just too bad the state's don't allow adoptees or birthparents the right to heal, like Britain does in this film (with their open records). They add to the pain with their antiquated take on adoption. If you are so moved by this film, I encourage you to look into supporting an open records cause.

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Wonderful movie