Secrets & Lies (film)
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| Secrets & Lies | |
|---|---|
 film poster |
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| Directed by | Mike Leigh |
| Produced by | Simon Channing-Williams |
| Written by | Mike Leigh |
| Starring | Brenda Blethyn Marianne Jean-Baptiste Timothy Spall Phyllis Logan |
| Music by | Andrew Dickson |
| Cinematography | Dick Pope |
| Editing by | Jon Gregory |
| Distributed by | October |
| Release date(s) |  May, 1996 (premiere at Cannes) 24 May 1996 5 September 1996 27 September 1996 27 September 1996 (limited) |
| Running time | 142 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $4.5 million |
Secrets & Lies is a 1996 British film directed by Mike Leigh and starring Brenda Blethyn, who won the award for Best Actress at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.[1] The film won numerous other awards and received several Academy Award nominations.
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[edit] Storyline
The film tells the story of Hortense Cumberbatch, a successful black optometrist, who is adopted. After the death of her adoptive mother, she chooses to trace her family history and discovers that her birth mother, Cynthia Purley, is a working-class white woman. She meets her and later meets Cynthia's brother, Maurice Purley, a photographer, and his wife Monica, and Cynthia's daughter Roxanne.
[edit] Production
Although Leigh is credited with writing the screenplay, most of the performances were improvised: Leigh told each of the actors about their roles, and let them create their own lines.
Secrets and Lies was partly filmed in Whitehouse Way, Southgate, London.
The emotional scene in the bar, in which Cynthia realises that she is indeed Hortense's mother, was filmed in a single uninterrupted take of almost 8 minutes.
[edit] Awards
The film was a critical success. It has a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a website that collects film reviews, with an average rating of 8.7.[2]
The film won the prestigious Palme d'Or and Best Actress (Brenda Blethyn) awards at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival,[1] and Golden Globe and BAFTA Best Actress awards.
The film was also nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Brenda Blethyn), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), Best Director, Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
Influential film critic Roger Ebert entered the film to his Great Movies collection in 2009.[3]
- BAFTA
- Best Actress - Brenda Blethyn - WON
- Best Film
- Best British Film - WON
- Best Screenplay - WON
- Best Supporting Actress
[edit] Cast
- Timothy Spall - Maurice Purley
- Phyllis Logan - Monica Purley
- Brenda Blethyn - Cynthia Rose Purley
- Claire Rushbrook - Roxanne Purley
- Marianne Jean-Baptiste - Hortense Cumberbatch
- Elizabeth Berrington - Jane
- Michele Austin - Dionne
- Lee Ross - Paul
- Lesley Manville - Social Worker
- Ron Cook - Stuart
- Emma Amos - Girl with Scar
- Brian Bovell - Hortense's Brother
- Trevor Laird - Hortense's Brother
- Claire Perkins - Hortense's Sister-in-Law (as Clare Perkins)
- Elias Perkins McCook - Hortense's Nephew
[edit] Positive pickets
This film was the subject of "positive pickets" by the adult adoptee rights organization Bastard Nation, which used it as a vehicle to raise awareness of sealed birth records in the United States and Canada. (See No More Secrets and Lies: Bastard Nation's Positive Picket(November 1996 - March 1997)
Director Mike Leigh and actress Brenda Blethyn met with Bastard Nation activists at a positive picket in Beverly Hills on March 10, 1997, where they were presented with Bastard Nation T-shirts. (See Beverly Hills Secrets and Lies Rally, March 10, 1997)
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Festival de Cannes: Secrets & Lies". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4693/year/1996.html. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
- ^ Secrest & Lies. Rottentomatoes.
- ^ Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" review of Secrets & Lies
[edit] External links
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Madness of King George |
Alexanda Korda Award for Best British Film 1996 |
Succeeded by Nil by Mouth |
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