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Secrets & Lies (1996)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Mike Leigh (writer)
Release Date:
25 October 1996 (USA)
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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. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Bathroom
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Photography
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Kissing
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Social Worker
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Biracial
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Awards:
Nominated for 5 Oscars.
Another 29 wins
&
20 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(4 articles)
Producer Channing-Williams Dead
(From WENN. 14 April 2009, 5:05 AM, PDT)
British Filmmakers Rebuff Hollywood
(From Studio Briefing - Film News. 13 January 1998)
(From WENN. 14 April 2009, 5:05 AM, PDT)
British Filmmakers Rebuff Hollywood
(From Studio Briefing - Film News. 13 January 1998)
User Comments:
Quietly powerful
more (109 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| 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 |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Secrets et mensonges (France)
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MPAA:
Rated R for language.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
142 min | USA:136 min
Language:
Color:
Color (Metrocolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
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:
Company:
Fun Stuff
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.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in Que la lumière soit (1998)
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Soundtrack:
Happy Birthday to You
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (109 total)
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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.