SECRETS & LIES
A film review by John Bauer
Copyright 1997 John Bauer
***1/2 (out of 4)
Not since attending an Ingmar Bergman retrospective a few years ago have I seen a film as uncompromising in its portrayal of emotional truth as SECRETS & LIES. Like Bergman, director Mike Leigh is interested in probing his characters' inner depths through hypernaturally blunt confrontations. Also like Bergman, Leigh engages in frequent closeups of his characters' ravished and wracked faces. And the prominent mournfulness of a cello on the soundtrack recalls Bergman's own use of a Bach cello suite in an earlier film. All that is missing is a discussion of God.
Which is not to say that SECRETS & LIES is nothing more than an homage to the Swedish master. In fact, it is quite possible Leigh had no such intentions in mind. Nonetheless, what we get is so far removed from the average moviegoing experience -- even from the reason we go to the movies in the first place -- that it takes some effort to adjust to the film's rhythms. Once the adjustment is made, however, there are great rewards.
One such is the chance to see life on the screen as it really is. Though Leigh may have adopted some of Bergman's stylistic touches, most obviously in an early scene of terse cross-cutting during a married couple's strained conversation, as well as in that somewhat obtrusive score, the overall feeling of the film is that it eschews any "style" at all. Whereas Bergman uses artifice as a tool to expose reality, Leigh makes the camera a mere observer, almost as in a PBS documentary.
The effect of this is to focus all of your attention on the actors. It is a tribute to everyone involved that, despite such scrutiny, only infrequently are we aware that anyone *is* acting. Much has been made of Brenda Blethyn's performance, and rightly so, but it is only when you remind yourself that you are watching a fiction that you realize how good she is.
There are a few missteps. For one, except for one scene (tragicomic, as it happens), there is scant humor in the film. This leads to a certain monotonous tone throughout. And occasionally (as with Bergman) the bluntness of the situations can seem forced. For all that, this longish film manages to keep hold of your attention.
It is unfortunate that the audience for SECRETS & LIES will most likely be limited to an intellectual elite, for there is nothing inherently intellectual about this film. In fact, it might easily resonate more strongly for millions of working class filmgoers who will likely never see it. There is even a sweet but significant irony in the film's unspoken take on race relations, something an American audience at least would do well to observe.
Nonetheless, SECRETS & LIES is not for the faint of heart. Though there is nothing physically horrific to make one squeamish, the exploration of common human frailty can be so raw and unsparing that it is tempting to turn from the screen. Needless to say, it is also very depressing at times. But for many of us, of course, so is life. And though the film is too honest to tack on a phony happy ending, that same honesty allows it to admit that things can also get better.
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