Own the rights?
53 out of 58 people found the following comment useful :- A great layering of memorable characters, 30 October 1999 Author: Ann Carrigan (symposium1@aol.com) from Orlando, Florida, USA
It took a second viewing of Mike Leigh's 'Secrets and Lies' to reveal the depth of its genius. I love character-driven drama, and this film succeeds in creating indelible portraits. Even the social worker is quirky and memorable instead of just furthering the plot and being patently sympathetic.I could write quite a lot about Blethyn's riveting performance. How drained she must have been after sustaining a character who seems always at the height of emotional pressure. Opposite her, Jean-Baptiste seemed as cool and smooth as could be. The contrasts created by these personae even extended to costume and decor.I decided to watch this movie again because after a BBC Shakespeare binge I wanted to see everything Ron Cook has been in. And while the Stuart scene is really somewhat incongruous to the rest of the family plot, Cook's scene as the bitter, drunk 't****r' works for me perfectly. So do the scenes of photo sessions -- and it's a matter of observing this film in terms of clarity of personal vision. The occupations of photographer and optometrist seem to lend metaphors of spirituality -- for Maurice, the ability to see people as they are, and for Hortense, the ability to understand how others see the world. The wall of smoke that Cynthia and Roxanne seem to keep in front of them. The disparity between the images created for the formal portraits and the truth of the personalities in them. In a distinctly un-sappy way, Leigh has explored the old adage that "the truth will set you free."If one reads a paragraph describing the main plot -- the adopted child seeking out her birth mother -- a very clear idea of a movie-of-the-week story comes to mind. 'Secrets and Lies' is nothing like that, and shows a mastery of vision and a cast of great talent. My roommate agreed, saying he thought this was one of the best films he's seen this decade.
35 out of 36 people found the following comment useful :- Winning performances, 25 October 2004 Author: mjn1957 from Carrboro, NC, USA
This is a lovely, small film with beautiful performances by Brenda Blethyn and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. It is filled with comical moments that balance out some of the heavier parts of the film. My heart went out to the two lead characters as they struggled to make sense of the mutual bond unearthed by Ms. Jean-Baptiste's character. At once confused, hurt, shocked and afraid, Ms. Blethyn is completely convincing in her role. I was moved by her decision to enter into a relationship with this woman whom she had never before met. Perhaps the fact that Ms. Blethyn and Ms. Jean-Baptiste had never been introduced prior to the scene in which their two characters meet added to the realism of that moment. And Ms. Jean-Baptiste's portrayal of a woman who is surprised by her discovery and not a little disappointed was dead-on, as is her dogged determination to get what she came after. If you are searching for a movie brimming with action, special effects, and/or blockbuster stars you need to pass this over. But if you are in the mood for a film that offers winning performances and an entertaining storyline that grows out of human interaction, this is the one you're looking for! "Secrets & Lies" is a gem of a movie!
37 out of 41 people found the following comment useful :- Honesty & Integrity, 3 June 2004 Author: wainot from United States
This is one of my very favorite movies of the last 10, even 20 years. For me, its greatness lies in the resonance of the story lines, the brilliant acting, (Brenda Blethyn, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Timothy Spall all turned in Oscar-worthy turns, and the rest of the ensemble were all with them), and Mike Leigh's direction.This is a feast of tremendous acting, by a most talented ensemble who really become their characters. The scenes play out very naturally, and you really feel a part of the story, with special empathy towards - in no particular order - Cynthia, Maurice and Hortense. As the film builds towards a showdown/climax at the birthday party, you can even take a step back and at least sympathize with Roxanne and even, Monica. This rates 10/10 by this reviewer, who wishes that more directors - if they truly have a good story to tell - will shoot and edit the film in a way that appreciates the audience's intelligence and capacity to feel without being manipulated by a director's avant-garde(??) bag of tricks ...for comparison, perhaps see my scathing review of 21 Grams! What a contrast of styles!!!
26 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :- So Brilliant, 27 March 2004 Author: mettled from Portland, OR
I wish the USA had a director like Mike Leigh. His movies are amazing. "Secrets & Lies" traces the pain we often hold inside along with our secrets and the catharsis that can come by revealing them. Lives of quiet desperation within a family gradually find healing in this movie about adoption, children and the walls we build around ourselves for protection. There is a poignant metaphor in the brother Morris' career as a photographer, as his subjects attempt to cover the stories in their faces long enough to smile for the camera. This is an intense movie but it is not without beauty and hope.
20 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :- Top 5 Film Class Movies: FILM #5, 25 July 2005 Author: Josh Miller (jmille42@insight.rr.com) from United States
In honor of my film class wrapping up this week, I will be counting down my top five favorite films we have watched for class. I begin with my #5 choice, Secrets and Lies, a Mike Leigh drama/comedy about the secrets and lies (shock) that tear apart a dysfunctional British family. Brenda Blethyn plays Cynthia Purley, the very dramatic and always crying single mother who is one day contacted by the daughter she gave up for adoption…who happens to be black. The look on Blethyn's face is priceless as she flashes back to a one night stand she had as a young lady.Most would think Leigh's story would revolve around race relations, which is not the case at all (race is never an issue). Instead he revolves his story around the Purley family, a unit so torn apart from over the years that a simple family cook out turns into a soap opera. "Secrets and lies! We're all in pain! Why can't we share our pain? I've spent my entire life trying to make people happy, and the three people I love the most in the world hate each other's guts, and I'm in the middle! I can't take it anymore!" This memorable quote comes from Maurice Purley, brother to Cynthia and talented photographer. Maurice is your classic good guy, the passive patriarch who always tries to hold the family together. (The irony around his character is that he cannot conceive a child with his wife, Monica). You almost feel sorry for the successful Hortense, as if she would be better off not knowing her birth mother at all.The actors are so talented in this film that Leigh, at times, uses no cuts during a scene. The camera stays in one spot as the actors' play out scenes that can last 10-15 minutes. After you get past the difficult British dialect (you may want to use captions while watching), you will feel as if you are that nosey neighbor who can't help but listen and enjoy the problems this family confronts…and that's no lie.
14 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :- superb comedy/drama, 31 August 2004 Author: ginger_sonny from London, England
Mike Leigh's superb comedy-drama of family relationships. Heart-rending, bitter and delightful by turn Leigh's modern classic captured a brace of Oscar nominations but went home empty handed in the face of The English Patient's near clean sweep. Even Blethyn's Cannes-winning performance lost out to Frances McDormand's Fargo turn (hard to challenge this decision, although in any other year the brilliant Blethyn would have deserved to win). The film eventually racked up a considerable number of awards, its Oscar success aside.The story, every bit as believable and real as the rest of Leigh's work, centres on a woman, Cynthia Purley (Blethyn ), whose mid-life crisis is further exacerbated by the appearance on the scene of the daughter she gave away at birth, the wonderfully named Hortense Cumberbatch (Baptiste) - a young, beautiful, professional black woman who causes a few eyebrows to be raised in the family, and forces Cynthia to come to terms with her past.Alternating between high comedy, scathing one-liners (Blethyn telling daughter Rushbrook she has a face like a "slapped arse" is a moment to treasure) and tear-jerking poignancy, with Spall, Rushbrook and Baptiste all offering strong support, this is nothing short of superb.Verdict A genuine hit for Mike Leigh, Secrets And Lies has the coarse grain of real life, sympathetically and affirmingly fashioned.
11 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :- Magic, 19 August 2002 Author: Rick Blaine from London
The way Leigh weaves a story here - no screenplay, just tell the actors what the scenes are supposed to do, give them an outline, but don't give away the punch line or the ending - shows up in the final print. This is cinematic magic, with Blethyn turning in one of the most breathtaking performances ever seen on the silver screen. The transformation into Cynthia Purley is total. Study especially the scene in the cafe in Holborn - story has it these two principals had not met before shooting this scene, and the scene goes on forever, and puts incredible demands on both actors, especially Blethyn, who is simply unreal in her abilities. All do a great job here. This is not a light comedy. It will tear at you, thanks in part to the evocative music, but at the end you will go 'wow' and feel good for having seen it.
9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :- One Excellent Film...But Is There Another Secret?, 1 June 2005 Author: Gideonssword79 from United States
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
Here is a question which has dogged me each time I watch this film - and I have seen it over 40 times: Two times during the film, Cynthia Purley (Brenda Blethyn) discusses the circumstances under which her daughter, Hortense Cumberbatch (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) was born - but when Hortense asks who her father is, Cynthia cannot say.In the restaurant, when Cynthia realizes that she, a white woman, is indeed the mother of this black daughter, she has a moment where she hints at the true circumstances of Hortense's birth. We realize that Hortense's father is black...but is there another secret? After all, at the birthday party for Cynthia's other daughter Roxanne (Claire Rushbrook), Cynthia tells Roxanne that her father's name was Bingham - that he was an American medical student that she met on holiday while she was at Benidorm. So, she can tell people who Roxanne's true father was. But when Hortense asks if her father "was a nice man," Cynthia can't say - or won't.The question to be asked here, which no one breaches, is: Was Hortense the product of rape? Was the 15 year old Cynthia Purley raped by a black man in 1968 in London? And did she then keep the child, only to give it up for adoption? Why doesn't anyone ask this? Why does Cynthia let Roxanne know who her father is, but not Hortense? Now, was this done on purpose by the director and/or the screenwriter? After all, it would be simple enough to see the name of the child, "Elizabeth Rose Purley," on the birth certificate that Hortense gets a copy of. If it is blank, this would prove that Cynthia did not know who the father was - pointing the way to rape.But the question is not asked, and the answer not given.Can we speculate? Can we broach the subject that a black man raped a white girl and yet she did not abort the child and instead gave it life and then gave it away? This is an absolutely fantastic film. From Brenda Blethyn to Marianne Jean-Baptiste (now on CSI:New York without her British accent) to Timothy Spall, this film is filled with Oscar worthy performances. Why this was passed over for the (dull and boring) "The English Patient" is beyond me.I would recommend this film without doubt. It is one of the finest pieces of film-making and acting I have ever seen.
6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :- Wonderful, character-driven movie- Mike Leigh's genius strikes again!, 2 March 2006 Author: Brigid O Sullivan (wisewebwoman) from Toronto, Canada
I've seen this movie four times now and waited before writing a review, waited to see if my first spell-bound viewing could be matched by the others that would follow. And an overwhelming yes is the answer.It actually gets deeper with each viewing even with knowing that the cast were given the outline of the characters and told to develop their own dialogue. In fact Brenda Blethyn, who plays Cynthia, the mother, was not even aware that Hortense, played by Marianne Jean-Baptiste, was black until she meets her for the first time in a crucial scene.Timothy Spall, playing Maurice, the brother/uncle is incredible, what he can portray just with his eyes is breathtaking.I love the layering of the story, the characterizations so unexpected. Such as the child abandoned at birth and put out for adoption being the most centred and focused of everyone. The drunken ex-owner of the business that Maurice bought bringing Maurice to a place of awareness that it could be him wandering around drunkenly, speaking of his past achievements.The flashes of mini-plots portrayed by the subjects of Maurice's photographic settings. The heart-breaking scene where Maurice's snobby wife reveals her secrets. The slowly developing warmth and comfort between Cynthia and Hortense.And on.This is a fabulous movie, worth seeing over and over to "get" it all. And even then. The secret of Hortense's father is never revealed, just an "unknown" marked on the birth certificate, which leaves us to ponder on the fact she was probably raped at fifteen. She states she deliberately never saw the baby that was the result.You can literally feel her growing joy in Hortense and how beautiful a person she is. One scene earlier on has Cynthia telling Hortense how more like her she is than her other (white) daughter. Remarkable. 9 out of 10.Would that we had a Mike Leigh at this side of the world to bring us such treasures!!
9 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :- A wonderful motion picture., 21 June 2003 Author: George041 from USA
Very well done and a motion picture worth seeing. Perhaps the plot takes a little time to develop, but the end is full of surprises. There is humor, pathos, and the usual jump to conclusions on the part of the characters depicted. Nevertheless, it is a great motion picture.
Add another comment
