Secrets & Lies (1996)

Director:

Mike Leigh

Writer:

Mike Leigh (writer)

Release Date:

25 October 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Roxanne drives her mother crazy. Maurice never speaks to his niece. Cynthia has a shock for her family. Monica can't talk to her husband. Hortense has never met her mother.

Plot:

Successful black woman traces her birth mother to a lower-class white woman, who denies it; emotions run high as everyone's secrets are exposed.

Plot Keywords:

Bathroom | Photography | Kissing | Social Worker | Biracial

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 29 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Timothy Spall	...	Maurice Purley
Phyllis Logan	...	Monica Purley
Brenda Blethyn	...	Cynthia Rose Purley
Claire Rushbrook	...	Roxanne Purley
Marianne Jean-Baptiste	...	Hortense Cumberbatch
Elizabeth Berrington	...	Jane
Michele Austin	...	Dionne
Lee Ross	...	Paul
Lesley Manville	...	Social Worker
Ron Cook	...	Stuart
Emma Amos	...	Girl with Scar
Brian Bovell	...	Hortense's Brother
Trevor Laird	...	Hortense's Brother
Claire Perkins	...	Hortense's Sister-in-Law (as Clare Perkins)
Elias Perkins McCook	...	Hortense's Nephew

Also Known As:

Secrets et mensonges (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

142 min | USA:136 min

Country:

France | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:AL | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Holborn Underground Station, Holborn, London, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

Most of the script was improvised. Writer/director Mike Leigh told each of the actors what his/her part in the story was and they each developed their own characters.

Quotes:

Cynthia: I can still turn a few heads...
Roxanne: ...and a few stomachs!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Que la lumière soit (1998)

Soundtrack:

Happy Birthday to You

Quietly powerful

I've only seen a few Mike Leigh films. FOUR DAYS IN JULY(I think that was the title) was a film I would have liked except back when I saw it, I wasn't able to handle thick accents, so I couldn't understand it. LIFE IS SWEET and CAREER GIRLS are slight but highly enjoyable. NAKED features a terrific performance by David Thewlis but has a surprisingly misogynist streak in it. But the best of all of them is SECRETS AND LIES. Like his other films, it's entirely improvised by the actors from an outline Leigh writes, but unlike some of those types of movies, you're never left saying, "Okay, cut already!" You're too engrossed by the story, the emotions it brings up, and the performances. Particularly those of Blethyn, Jean-Baptiste(especially her first scene in the adoption agency), and Spall. I could identify with all of them, and was caught up in what happened to them. And although there's no neat resolution, there is some hope at the end. A great movie.