Review of Secrets & Lies (1996) by Abraham R — 28 Mar 2012

If you are looking for a good action film filled with guns and violence, please stop reading here. If you are looking for a good, deep introspection of a British family dealing with a number of issues, please continue. Mike Leigh's 1996 film Secrets and Lies revolves around two Purley households, one involving Maurice (Timothy Spall) and Monica (Phyllis Logan), a married couple dealing with some marital stress but otherwise living a comfortable life off Maurice's successful photography business, and the other composed of Cynthia Rose (Brenda Blethyn) and her daughter Roxanne (Claire Rushbrook), a mother and daughter who have apparently been struggling to co-exist for a while. Cynthia Rose and Maurice are also having their share of problems, as they have not been communicating regularly like they did in the past, but still look forward to seeing each other again soon at Roxanne's 21st birthday party. The last member of this terrific ensemble is a young and successful female optometrist, Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), who recently lost her adoptive mother and decides to go on a search for her birth mother.

While there is nothing extraordinary about these circumstances, problems that are dealt with by a number of families, Leigh is able to take this normal-ish family and craft its story into a beautiful and touching film. For me, Spall's performance stood out among a number of strong actors, especially when honing his photography craft. In a short montage early on in which we see him take portraits of a number of different people and families, all we get is his commentary as we observe everyone posing in their own way, but it is fantastic and joyously funny. And while this scene did not have a grand impact on the overall film, I really took it as Leigh's way of introducing his philosophy that every individual is unique in his or her own way and needs to be accepted and loved for who he is, a theme he brilliantly develops throughout. We get a number of these short comical quips throughout, including one in which Cynthia Rose passes by Roxanne, who is working her street-sweeping job, on her way to meet up with a friend. It is a very brief exchange, but Blethyn's "have a great day at work!" look was terrific as Rushbrook is momentarily paralyzed in wondering why her mother is out in the afternoon, a time in which she normally would be mourning over her boring and broken life at home.

As the film progresses and relationships continue to evolve, we learn that Hortense's actual mother is Cynthia Rose, a twist that provides some complications to Cynthia and Roxanne's already strained relationship and provides some mystery for how both Hortense and Cynthia Rose will accept this new-found tie. After first being in denial, Cynthia Rose finally accepts her half-black daughter as her own and my favorite relationship emerges. While I was often turned off by Blethyn's whiny attitude, her compassion for the daughter she gave up for adoption is touching, worked to perfection by Leigh. Jean-Baptiste also puts forth a refreshing, if not emotional, performance as the daughter struggling to deal with the deaths of both her adoptive parents while also warming up to her birth mother.

When taking in this film, I could not help but to reminisce over Leigh's most recent film, Another Year, which is very similar in its familial approach. Secrets and Lies is able to work in a bit more of a complex story while perhaps not quite living up to Another Year's brilliant emotional and realistic performances. I found myself somewhat questioning how the Purley family would fall into place, and a few plot turns seemed a bit too easy for me, but overall the film was a wonderful humanist display by Leigh, something that everyone should see if only to appreciate life and what they have just a little bit more.