SECRETS AND LIES
A film review by Julian Lim
Copyright 1996 The Flying Inkpot
Directed by: Mike Leigh Produced by: CiBy 2000/Thin Man Films/Channel 4 Films. Cast: Timothy Spall (Maurice), Phyllis Logan (Monica), Brenda Blethyn (Cynthia), Claire Rushbrook (Roxanne), Marianne Jeane-Baptiste (Hortense) Run Time:141 minutes Rating: ****1/2 out of ***** Theatres: Lido
TRUE LIVES OF THE COMMON PEOPLE
Jarvis Cocker of Pulp once said that he wrote Common People after noticing Mike Leigh box-sets on the video shelves -- he had a feeling that economic deprivation was becoming a tourist experience for the well-off. Maybe it's a classic case of displacement : it's easier to see Jarvis' own lyrics (obsessed with acrylic and wood chip on the wall) as a fetishization of lowlife, rather than Leigh's films. But it's worth being reminded that drab interiors and a couple of working-class characters don't make for a guarantee of 'authenticity', let alone a good film. It's the triumph of SECRETS & LIES, then, that it goes beyond gestures of sympathy for the common people into a probing of just what it means to seek 'authenticity' and honesty in everyday lives.
Following her adopted mother's funeral, Hortense, a young black optometrist, sets out to find her birth mother, and is disturbed to find out that she is white. It is Cynthia, a factory worker who lives in a shabby house with her perpetually moody daughter Roxanne. Cynthia's younger brother Maurice is a successful photographer who has not seen his sister for ages, largely because of his wife's animosity towards her. Hortense calls up Cynthia, who initially breaks down in tears and refuses to see her. But their mutually suspicious meeting gives way to a warm friendship eventually. Cynthia invites Hortense to come along to a party, which Maurice is hosting...
SECRETS & LIES has a simple enough theme at its heart -- as one character puts it, "Best to tell the truth, isn't it? That way nobody gets hurt.". But if the film delivers much more than a trite message, it's because we are also shown how hard it can be to face up to ugly truths, even while the evasions and unspoken grievances slowly choke us.
Hence, Cynthia's difficulty with acknowledging (first to herself, then to others) that Hortense is her daughter. One of her first reactions to seeing Hortense is a sincere denial that she has ever "been with a black man", before a long-suppressed memory seizes her. At the party, Cynthia's pretense that Hortense is her factory co-worker leads her to ever more convoluted lies, as agonizing as they are funny.
Little lies seep into every corner, like Maurice pretending that he's "just dropping by" when he visits Cynthia after much deliberation. Maurice's job as a photographer gives the film opportunities for side comments on the main theme - a sad-looking bride that Maurice coaxes to smile, a couple who pose awkwardly with a prominent wedding ring and argue about his spectacles. One of the most startling images is of a beautiful woman with large scars on her face : she says she needs the photo to look "as bad as possible" to collect insurance money, yet the short scene leaves you wondering about what untold story lies behind the scars.
There are occasionally hilarious moments, as when Cynthia attempts to give her daughter some unwelcome advice on contraception, "I've got a Dutch cap floating about somewhere upstairs"; or when Cynthia stares at her own rather pedestrian legs and tells Roxanne, "If you've got it, flaunt it, is what I say."
As played by Brenda Blethyn, Cynthia comes close to being a caricature, with her nervous, somewhat disconnected way of talking. But she's really just right for the role of someone who inspires sympathy and yet strains the tolerance of those around her, precisely because she's so needy of love, perhaps. Indeed, the whole cast gives warmly rounded, detailed performances. The script was developed partly through improvisations, and the fusion of cast, script and director shows best in the party scene - seemingly everyone is talking at the same time, and yet many subtle observations are being made throughout. In a very different way, but also using a long single shot, the scene of Hortense and Cynthia's first meeting in a lonely caf=8A achieves a touching intensity, all the more for their reticence and unspoken feelings.
The film's climax - with all the secrets and lies finally spilled out in Ibsen-esque revelations, and everybody hugging each other - is the one thing that seems false about this film. However, it's a film that truly earns its happy ending after the misery and repression of the character's lives. When Cynthia says near the end, This is the life, innit?, you get the sense that, following the cynicism of his last film NAKED, Leigh has rediscovered that life can be sweet after all, without comforting illusions.
THE FLYING INKPOT's rating system: * Wait for the video. ** A little creaky, but still better than staying at home with Gotcha! *** Pretty good, bring a friend. **** Amazing, potent stuff. ***** Perfection. See it twice.
___________________________________ This review was written for THE FLYING INKPOT <http://bizdir.com.sg/inkpot/>. We're inkier! We're pottier! We're wordy! All flying bricks welcome. Leave your penguin at the door.
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