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Actors: Brenda Blethyn, Marianne Jean-Baptiste,Timothy Spall
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Secrets & Lies |
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A neurotic basket case named Cynthia (played exquisitely by Brenda Blethyn) struggles to tame her bratty daughter while harboring a deep secret. Years ago she got pregnant and gave the baby up for adoption.
When the estranged daughter's adoptive parents die, she seeks out her biological mother. Cynthia is so emotionally unstable that she is hardly prepared for a reunion. At first she resists contact entirely; her guilt and her fear of the other's discovering her secret are overwhelming. But as Cynthia admits to herself that her current life is frustrating and ungratifying, she reaches out to the estranged daughter in a way that lifts her spirits and boosts her confidence.
Her existing family members--each contending with his or her own emotional conflict--eventually air their own dirty laundry, ultimately resulting in a deeper and more truthful familial bond.
--Jennifer, Resident Scholar
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Hortense (Jean-Baptiste), a competent 27-year-old British optometrist who is black, was an adopted child and decides to find her birth mother. That woman turns out to be a never-married white factory worker named Cynthia (Blethyn, in an outstanding performance), who has a sullen daughter named Roxanne and mourns her estrangement from her younger brother Maurice (Spall), a successful wedding photographer who lives in the suburbs with his wife Monica. Things come to a head when Monica agrees to host a 21st birthday party for Roxanne, and Cynthia brings Hortense as a "friend and co-worker." Employing his usual unorthodox methods, writer/director Mike Leigh filmed with no script: The actors improvised under his total control, and (for example) Blethyn and Jean-Baptiste never laid eyes on each other until the long, continuous shot across a cafe table when their characters first meet. In a similar way, the climactic luncheon for six on an outdoor patio is shown in one continuous, flowing shot of virtuosic camera work and acting. An astonishing intense and personal (though leisurely) piece of work.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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A sincere English production about a successful middle-class black lady,Hortense looking for her birth mother,Cynthia who turned out to be white and lower-class.
--Jenny, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Secrets & Lies |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1980's-1999
Family, struggling with
Yes
Struggle with:
- Daughter
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- blue collar
Age:
- 40's-50's
Eccentric:
Yes
- emotionally unstable
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Events of movie makes character more...
- happy
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn straight
How much in movie?
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Black
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Movie makes you feel...
- challenged
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Jennifer
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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