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Secrets & Lies
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Secrets & Lies (1996) More at IMDbPro »

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Secrets & Lies (1996) -- Successful black woman traces her birth mother to a lower-class white woman, who denies it; emotions run high as everyone's secrets are exposed.

Overview

User Rating:
7.9/10   13,174 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 10% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Mike Leigh
Writer:
Mike Leigh (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Secrets & Lies on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
25 October 1996 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Drama more
Tagline:
Roxanne drives her mother crazy. Maurice never speaks to his niece. Cynthia has a shock for her family. Monica can't talk to her husband. Hortense has never met her mother.
Plot:
Successful black woman traces her birth mother to a lower-class white woman, who denies it; emotions run high as everyone's secrets are exposed. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 30 wins & 18 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(4 articles)
Producer Channing-Williams Dead
 (From WENN. 14 April 2009, 5:05 AM, PDT)

British Filmmakers Rebuff Hollywood
 (From Studio Briefing - Film News. 13 January 1998)

User Comments:
Quietly powerful more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Secrets et mensonges (France)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for language.
Runtime:
142 min | USA:136 min
Country:
France | UK
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Metrocolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby SR

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Brenda Blethyn never met before the scene in which they meet in the film. more
Quotes:
Maurice: Life isn't fair then is it. Somebody always draws the short straw. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Even Stevens: Secrets and Spies (#1.11)" (2000) more
Soundtrack:
Happy Birthday to You more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
10 out of 17 people found the following comment useful:-
Quietly powerful, 14 September 1999
Author: Sean Gallagher (naes@cgocable.net) from Oakville, Ont. Canada

I've only seen a few Mike Leigh films. FOUR DAYS IN JULY(I think that was the title) was a film I would have liked except back when I saw it, I wasn't able to handle thick accents, so I couldn't understand it. LIFE IS SWEET and CAREER GIRLS are slight but highly enjoyable. NAKED features a terrific performance by David Thewlis but has a surprisingly misogynist streak in it. But the best of all of them is SECRETS AND LIES. Like his other films, it's entirely improvised by the actors from an outline Leigh writes, but unlike some of those types of movies, you're never left saying, "Okay, cut already!" You're too engrossed by the story, the emotions it brings up, and the performances. Particularly those of Blethyn, Jean-Baptiste(especially her first scene in the adoption agency), and Spall. I could identify with all of them, and was caught up in what happened to them. And although there's no neat resolution, there is some hope at the end. A great movie.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Secrets & Lies (1996)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
How Could She Not Know Patty-76
overacted? etoilesss12
Hortense is supposed to be mixed race??? markcody
Roxanne was hilarious Luin_On
representation of Marianne Jeane Baptiste (Ortense) scarlet817
the perfect antidote to special effect movies inbred_cannibal_activist
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