"Secrets and Lies" has an intriguig theme. After the death of her adoption mother a young woman starts looking for her biological mother. There happens to be a big class difference between the two. Only hesitatingly do they get accustomed to each other.
The theme is elaborated in many beautiful scenes. The film right away opens with a beautituf scene about the burial of the adoption mother. We see a quiet and seemingly remote old cemetry, only when the camera starts moving we see how close the big city really is. Other beautiful scenes are: The first meeting of the woman and her biological mother. In this scene the discomfort is nearly tangible. The scene with a variety of photo shootings by the brother of the biological mother, who is a professional photographer. This scene provides for a comical relief. The amount of screentime spend on this brother at first seems at odds with his part in the plot. Only towards the end the real importnce of this character is revealed. Last but not least the family barbeque where the newly found daughter is introduced. This sort of family gatherings, realxed at the surface but with years of repressed resentments underneath happens to be the specialty of Mike Leigh.
Mike Leigh is a director with a peculiar way of making films. He develops the script in cooperation with his actors, whom he gives a lot of freedom to improvise. In the beginning this method didn't make it easy to finance his projects (investors want to see a script first). Between his first ("Bleak moments", 1971) and second ("High hopes", 1988) film elapsed 17 years. After that his films became more frequent.
Mike Leigh is a direct descendant from the "kitchen sink" movement of the '60s. As such he is often compared to Ken Loach. Based on this film that comparison is in my opinion not in his favor. The working class is portayed in "Secrets and lies" rather caricatural and not with the respect and the warmth so characteristic of Ken Loach.
Apart from the praise mentioned above there are a few other flaws attached to "Secrets and lies". In the first place there are a lot of secrets and lies packed in this two hour movie. Enough for a whole season of the average sitcom. Secondly the happy end is rather unlikely. A family that is not so harmonious during the rest of the film all of a sudden accepts the appearance of a new family member out of thin air very lightheartedly.
The theme is elaborated in many beautiful scenes. The film right away opens with a beautituf scene about the burial of the adoption mother. We see a quiet and seemingly remote old cemetry, only when the camera starts moving we see how close the big city really is. Other beautiful scenes are: The first meeting of the woman and her biological mother. In this scene the discomfort is nearly tangible. The scene with a variety of photo shootings by the brother of the biological mother, who is a professional photographer. This scene provides for a comical relief. The amount of screentime spend on this brother at first seems at odds with his part in the plot. Only towards the end the real importnce of this character is revealed. Last but not least the family barbeque where the newly found daughter is introduced. This sort of family gatherings, realxed at the surface but with years of repressed resentments underneath happens to be the specialty of Mike Leigh.
Mike Leigh is a director with a peculiar way of making films. He develops the script in cooperation with his actors, whom he gives a lot of freedom to improvise. In the beginning this method didn't make it easy to finance his projects (investors want to see a script first). Between his first ("Bleak moments", 1971) and second ("High hopes", 1988) film elapsed 17 years. After that his films became more frequent.
Mike Leigh is a direct descendant from the "kitchen sink" movement of the '60s. As such he is often compared to Ken Loach. Based on this film that comparison is in my opinion not in his favor. The working class is portayed in "Secrets and lies" rather caricatural and not with the respect and the warmth so characteristic of Ken Loach.
Apart from the praise mentioned above there are a few other flaws attached to "Secrets and lies". In the first place there are a lot of secrets and lies packed in this two hour movie. Enough for a whole season of the average sitcom. Secondly the happy end is rather unlikely. A family that is not so harmonious during the rest of the film all of a sudden accepts the appearance of a new family member out of thin air very lightheartedly.