Film review: Secrets and Lies (1996)

Won Palme d'Or at Cannes, and received Five Academy Award nominations. The film is pretty self-explanatory, although this can fool you, there are layers to the story, if you look closely.

A kitchen sink drama, a slice of life story set in London about a family and their troubles, such strong and realistic dialogue and impressive acting. While some may find her character irritating, Brenda Blethyn won the award for Best Actress at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.

I find it interesting that Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn) feels closer to her friend Hortense, whom she has just met, than her own family, whom she has known for years. Sometimes it’s easier to make a fresh start, where people don’t have previous knowledge of you. Cynthia is lonely, and seems to be fading fast, and heading towards a nervous breakdown, her brother has neglected to keep her spirits up over the previous year, but she has also not rung him either, so she’s not blameless. Hortense has just lost her mother, so the circumstances are ideal for the two women to strike up a new friendship, they both give each other the guide to go on living.


The photographer Maurice (Timothy Spall) must not only worry about his sister Cynthia, but also doubts whether his wife still loves him, and even at work he has to brighten the mood of his customers. No one is giving HIM any support, so he shows character by soldiering on even when he is under pressure from all sides. He is probably the mentally strongest of the bunch, and is in a way holding the family together.

At times, for me at least, it can be tough to watch the suffering these characters are enduring, they really crept under my skin, and I couldn’t help feeling sorry for them. Especially the grumpy daughter’s cold behaviour towards her unhappy mother Cynthia is sort of a statement I think Mike Leigh is making about how NOT to treat your parent. Rather than help one another, each suffers alone. Both Roxanne and Cynthia being in boring dead-end jobs probably adds to their frustration with life, although you could argue that Roxanne is content with being a garbage collector, or simply unsure about her future and biding time. One could say Roxanne doesn’t know any better, and feels like she can say whatever she likes without her mother ever leaving her. This is a problem I see with a child-parent relationship, parents can get bashed and what to do then? Stop loving your child is not really an option. One of my favourite novels What I loved by Siri Hustvedt deals with this very topic about a hostile child and how this can be tough for parents.

While watching, the film also has the effect of making the viewer consider their own family dynamics, what secrets and lies are right in front of you in your own homes?


Having just rewatched this earlier masterpiece, in a lot of ways, Secrets & Lies resembles Mike Leigh’s latest screen effort Another Year (2010). The vulnerable Cynthia character desperate for attention and affection is comparable to Mary (Lesley Manville), the loser ghost from the past outside the photographer shop and the awkwardness of having to deal with him feels like one of those dysfunctional friends Tom and Gerri had coming round to visit, there are family gatherings in both stories like in the photo above. Not that the similarities are a bad thing, as the stories and dialogue are vastly different.

A bit of trivia: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.

For me, Secrets & Lies is a depiction of how we reveal ourselves, and try and cope through hard times, how we rely on other people’s love or encouragement to get us through the day. I think it easily holds up to repeat viewing every five years or so.

Readers, any thoughts on Secrets & Lies?

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Film review: Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)

Colourful and thoughtful feel good film about trying to see the positive in everyone and everything and tackle life always with a smile. It made my top 10 films watched in 2010 list. A film written and directed by Mike Leigh. Set in contemporary London, about Poppy, a 30-year-old primary school teacher who is out-going, talkative, irrepressible, funny and with uncontrollable energy. A free spirit whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her, and who speaks before she thinks. The film is lifted by Sally Hawkins' award winning and breakthrough performance. According to the director, Happy-go-lucky is a film about openness and generosity of spirit.

Why is Poppy so optimistic, has she always behaved in this way? Would a sequel about how she was as a 20-year-old cast light on her personality? Could it be she is covering up some bad memories? I'm not sure if Poppy is so happy 100% all of the time on the inside, being happy on the outside I think just makes her feel good about herself and towards others. Maybe she wants to avoid hurting people. I think Poppy is confident and believes in herself, she appears to like being who she is, and doesn't let others make her angry. The title describes her attitude in life, according to freedictionary, a happy-go-lucky person is happy all of the time and doesn't worry about anything.


My favourite scenes are the driving lessons with Poppy and Scott (the driving instructor). The two in the car are so different that it's funny to me. Perhaps his reaction to Poppy is saying a lot more about him than about her. It's a lot easier for the driving instructor to change others than himself. Scott is the antithesis of the joyful and open Poppy. She can’t help teasing his obnoxious behaviour, the more she teases, the more he gets irritated. Poppy tries to keep herself from being affected by any negative feelings. She wants to get through to him. Scott is afraid of change.

The use of bright colours emphasizes Poppy’s positive attitude. Sally Hawkins talks about her character on the dvd, and explains “she doesn’t shut up, and thinks she is hilarious, but she doesn’t really care if she is funny or not, she is so un-self-conscious. As much as she doesn’t judge other people, she doesn’t judge herself. She allows herself to be exactly what she is, she sees the humour in things, even in the darkest situations, perhaps when others can’t. She has a huge warmth and compassion for others and is naughty, and has a twinkle in her eye”


The question is, does her extremely positive attitude irritate us the viewers, and the other characters in the story? Yes and no. Poppy doesn’t appear to want to compromise and tone down her behaviour to make people like her more. She is just herself. Doesn't let life or other people get her down. A role model to others, a happy person, Isn't that what we want for ourselves? Making other people smile is a good thing, so it’s tough to criticize. But is it excessive at times to force her cheeriness onto others and fault them for not seeing life the same way? This is what some people might find annoying about Poppy. The scene with the homeless man I think is an attempt to show Poppy curious about something different to her own life. Maybe she feels she can help the man in some way.


An interesting observation I read was that the film questions whether someone like Poppy finds happiness, or simply wills herself into being upbeat? You definitely have to be strong-willed to disregard your own mood, and just be an ever-smiling optimist, no matter how you are feeling inside. Some people are able to do that, others are not. Its kind of self-perpetuating behaviour, in that if you constantly are happy, then you might conceivably begin to believe you really are happy, I guess. It’s a proactive attitude, having the reserves of energy to give smiles can make you feel good about yourself and give you a good reputation among others. As Madonna once said in an interview I saw, if you see yourself as a winner, then you will be a winner. And you could flip that quote around, if you see yourself as a loser, then you will be a loser.

Another interpretation I read is that Poppy is a child at heart, which is why she has a desire to work with children and therefore is dependent on her older flatmate and the fact she prefers to use a nickname as opposed to her real name (Pauline).

A cheerful and lively movie that makes you believe in the goodness of mankind, if you didn’t already.

The tagline is that it's a movie that will put a smile on your face, and it certainly did in my case. Hey, that rhymes ( :

For me, a weakness is that Poppy doesn't really grow in the story. My rating is 8/10.

The interpretations in my review might not please everyone, but the film sure is a conversation-starter!


Readers, any thoughts on Happy-Go-Lucky?

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Film review: Another year (2010)

Among the best films I’ve seen so far in 2011. A contemporary drama about over 50s living in the UK, very different to anything I’ve seen in a while.

You get to know several of the characters up close and personal, their weaknesses and doubts are often on display. Probably the director wanted to make an intimate film about people his own age, heck Jim Broadbent even looks like Mike Leigh in the film!

Mike Leigh is back to the kitchen sink style, which he is famous for in such films as Secrets & Lies (1996) and others. The plot about aging is untraditional, it doesn’t really have a typical beginning, middle or end, it’s more like real life, and I’m not even sure the characters “grow” as they would in other films. Some will no doubt complain that not enough happens, I welcome filmmaking that doesn’t follow a set formula. Mary (Lesley Manville in a fine performance) is going through a mid life crisis of sorts, so maybe it can be compared to a film like Greenberg (2010), only with a British sensibility as opposed to an American.

It felt like a fly-on-the-wall experience. We observe an average family going about their daily business during a year of their life. Has some funny moments, not least the names of Jim Broadbent (Tom) and his wife (Gerri). Try and put an “and” between their names and you’ll see what I mean ( :

A weakness I found was the initial scene with Gerri talking to the unhappy woman at work, this part was never really resolved. You could also argue the film is a little bit black and white with the happy couple on the one side, and the unhappy friends on the other, which Alex at boycotting trends pointed out in his review. the director could have added more conflict in the relationship between Tom and Gerri, I agree, although I think it may be more of a tacit examination of their marriage.


You wonder if Tom and Gerri have enough or even too much time to just be happy by themselves, do they need more conflict from the outside to feel alive? I couldn’t help comparing their predicament a bit to It's a Wonderful Life (1946), and James Stewart’s struggle of trying to get away from his roots, and if in fact getting away would be more meaningful or not. Does comforting and helping their friends and family give Tom and Gerri the ultimate fulfilment? Or are they neglecting their own individual goals in order to assist their troubled friends? I think it's fairly realistic that Tom and Gerri are essentially one person, sharing a similar demeanour after many years of living together.

Gerri being a therapist and having a warm and inviting personality probably makes her think of others before herself, so in some ways it’s a portrait of a modern day therapist’s personal life.
Can Gerri distinguish between work and spare time? She and her husband have the allotment to escape to, and I almost feel this is a sanctuary from all the problems they face on a day to day basis, both work and demanding friends. What do Tom and Gerri really want is interesting to me. Do Tom and Gerri help others to avoid thinking about themselves, or are they simply kind? Now that their son has grown up, are their circle of friend's problems a substitute task to occupy them? The poster I like a lot, I think Tom and Gerri support their friends and family like a tree trunk supports its branches.

Mike Leigh talks about in an interview that the story is about the moral dilemma, of where do you draw the line if you are generous to somebody, and they over step the mark, do you close the door? Or do you try and be sympathetic?

Tom and Gerri are not prejudice, they have room in their hearts for others, their house is a safe haven, where friends can go and not be rejected.

Mary and Ken are ambiguous characters, is Mary's exhausting behaviour and Ken's heavy drinking and lack of self-respect the reason they are forever singletons, or have they just been dealt an unlucky hand of cards in life? Probably it’s a bit of both.

The final scene is open-ended, will Mary go with Ron up North, will she get her life together, or is there no hope? Is Ron quiet all the time, or just for the moment, is he really sad about his wife’s death, why is Ron's son so rude? In an interview the director says the film is both pessimistic and optimistic, whatever you decide to take away from the experience.


I can see myself returning to Another Year again and again to further delve into my questions posed above. Similar to bloggers jump_raven and Erin, I prefer Mike Leigh's films directed from Naked (1993) and onwards. I saw his work in the late 80s and early 90s, but was not my cup of tea.

I think Another Year proves Mike Leigh keeps getting better and better, and that is a rare thing for a director. Yes, he has had a few minor hiccups over the course of his career, but what filmmaker hasn’t?

I may be biased, as I love compassionate and heart-warming films like this. Overall, I think there is more to Another Year than meets the eye. I urge you to go and see it.

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Readers, any thoughts on Another Year?