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Secrets And Lies [VHS] [1996]
 
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Secrets And Lies [VHS] [1996]

VHS ~ Timothy Spall
4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Actors: Timothy Spall, Brenda Blethyn, Phyllis Logan, Claire Rushbrook, Marianne Jean-Baptiste
  • Directors: Mike Leigh
  • Writers: Mike Leigh
  • Producers: Simon Channing Williams
  • Format: Closed-captioned, HiFi Sound, PAL
  • Language English
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: Cinema Club
  • VHS Release Date: 14 Jul 1999
  • Run Time: 136 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00004CTKT
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,835 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

    Popular in these categories:

    #4 in  Video > World Cinema > Directors > Leigh, Mike
    #15 in  Video > World Cinema > British

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
If a film fan had never heard of director Mike Leigh, one might explain him as a British Woody Allen. Not that Leigh's films are whimsical or neurotic; they are tough-love examinations of British life--funny, outlandish and biting. His films share a real immediacy with Allen's work: they feel as if they are happening now. Leigh works with actors--real actors--on ideas and language. There is no script at the start (and sometimes not at the end). Secrets and Lies involves Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), an elegant black woman wanting to learn her birth mother's identity. She will find it's Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn), who is one of the saddest creatures we've seen in film. She's also one of the most real and, ultimately, one of the most loveable. Timothy Spall is Cynthia's brother, a giant man full of love who is being slowly defeated by his fastidious wife (Phyllis Logan).

There is a great exuberance of life in Secrets & Lies, winner of the Palme D'Or and best actress (Blethyn) at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival--not Zorba-type life but the little battles fought and won every day. Leigh's honest interpretation of daily life is usually found only on the stage. Secrets & Lies is more realistic than a stage production, however, especially when Leigh shows us uninterrupted scenes. Critic David Denby states that Leigh has "made an Ingmar Bergman film without an instant of heaviness or pretension." If that sounds like your cup of tea, see Secrets & Lies. --Doug Thomas

Synopsis
A successful career woman who has just buried her adoptive parents, decides to search out her 'real' mother.

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
5 star:
 (9)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Look closer...?, 3 Nov 2002
This review is from: Secrets & Lies [DVD] [1996] (DVD)
What may strike you about Secrets & Lies is its length - "gritty" British films are not usually two and a quarter hours long. However, this is no ordinary "gritty" British film. Taking adoption as his theme, Mike Leigh populates his film with memorable characters, many of whom are not instantly likeable, but all of whom are undoubtedly real. It is a remarkable film that engages us from the start, when we witness the funeral of the mother of Hortense, an affluent black optometrist. With both of her adoptive parents dead, she decides to seek out her birth mother, who turns out to be an on-the-edge working class woman with a foul-mouthed daughter and a job making slits in boxes.

The most remarkable aspect of the film is the acting, as one would expect with Leigh. Although it was Brenda Blethyn to whom one's eye is attracted and to whom all praise was aimed, she is just one of a cast full of superb characterisations. Her trembling, knife-edge performance is indeed touching and memorable, but equal praise must be heaped on Marianne Jean-Baptiste for her beautifully measured Hortense. In many ways, hers is the hardest part to play as she gets no big shouting scenes and cries much less than everyone else, but her initial
awkwardness with her new family is wonderfully moving. Timothy Spall as a wedding photographer also stands out in another of his understated put-upon male roles. But it would be impossible to pick out a best performance as you never once doubt the reality of the people you are seeing on screen.

Leigh uses enigma brilliantly from the start ('who's died?', for instance, in the very first shot!) and emphasises throughout the theme of looking and seeing (Hortense as an optometrist; Spall as a photographer). Although I still don't quite see why it's been described as Leigh's hilarious bittersweet comedy - I found it tenser than most Hollywood actioners and was compelled by the drama of it throughout - I would strongly recommend it to any serious connoisseur of film, student of sociology or anyone looking for a different kind of story told very well indeed.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Typical British Family?, 8 Aug 2004
This review is from: Secrets & Lies [DVD] [1996] (DVD)
With 'Secrets & Lies' (1996) Mike Leigh produced one of the most accurate snap-shots of what goes on behind closed doors of a true British family. As the narrative unwinds we get drawn deeper and deeper into the lives of Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn), Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), and other members of the family.

Leigh reveals to us how secrets and lies can cause upset, pain,
and regret in what has to be one of the best British films of the 90's. With spot-on dialogue and glorious performances it is hard to find fault with Leighs master work. The stand out for me is brenda Blethyn as working-class poor Cynthia. Just when we thought Cynthia would live out the rest of her days as a worker in a banal factory, with her confrontational daughter Roxanne, she is thrown a life line in the form of Hortense, and we see their relationship flourish. Timothy Spall is also on top form as the glue that holds the family together.

The film is a harsh but realistic portrayal of the British family although the ending is fairly predictable and the film seems long on repeat viewings, you can't help but feel uplifted by the sentimental outcome.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic portrait of humanity, 20 Mar 2003
I recently saw Mike Leigh's play "Abigail's Party" in the West End and absolutely loved it. I then decided to buy the VHS of this film, on a whim, knowing relatively little about it. I am so glad that I did. It is not a film about anything in particular, which may seem a little odd and put people off. All i can say is that if you are someone who enjoys sitting and watching the world go by, and who listens to and wonders about people, you will love this film. I would suggest that you should be adventurous and buy it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Truth Shall Set You Free
Over-the-top emotionally, boldly going where few films ever dare to go, Mike Leigh's "Secrets and Lies" never fails, even after many repeated viewings, to impress with its naked,... Read more
Published 24 months ago by MICHAEL ACUNA

5.0 out of 5 stars Give us a cuddle Maurice
In my opinion, a career high for director Mike Leigh, and most of the players. I can watch this film again and again and get something new from it each time. Read more
Published on 2 Jun 2007 by David R. Bishop

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best British films
I think this is wonderful. My husband is Spanish and this was his first introduction to Britain six years ago. It still makes me laugh to think about his reaction. Watch it!
Published on 13 April 2005 by deereyescg12

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great True To Life Film
This is my favourite "Mike Leigh" film, I love them all but this one beats them all. I do not usually like long films in fact sitting still for the duration of a... Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2001 by davidjack@negusd.fsnet.co.uk

2.0 out of 5 stars Secrets and Lies explores issues of race, adoption and loss.
As a keen fan of Director Mike Leigh I find Secrets and Lies a disapointment. I can't believe Brenda Blethyn to be as convincing as Alison Steadman as an average working class... Read more
Published on 17 Feb 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars A great film Showing working class life honestly.
The first time I saw Secrets & Lies from director Mike Leigh was from purchasing the video from a retail shop. Read more
Published on 16 Jul 2000 by dave.simpson@cableinet.co.uk

5.0 out of 5 stars So touching and impressive!
This movie is the best example of true human feelings and the most romantic way of expressing the feelings between a mother and her child. Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2000

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