A warmly human look at family, race and class

Secrets and Lies
Directed and written by Mike Leigh
Opens nationally on September 5
Reviewed by Peter Boyle

Every family has its secrets and lies, but imagine the shock of Hortense, a young black optometrist, when she discovers that her biological mother, Cynthia, is white, lower working class and not very happy. At first Hortense thinks it's a mistake, but when she realises it's true she decides to get in touch. But Cynthia never saw the baby she had when she was only 15, so she gets a shock too.

If this sounds like the makings of a soapie, don't be put off. Mike Leigh's Secrets and Lies, which won the Palme d'Or for best film in Cannes 1996, is no such thing. It is a warmly human look at race, class and family in working-class London.

Mike Leigh comes up with interesting ways of revealing his observations of present-day working-class life in Britain. In Naked (1992), he used black humour and in Secrets and Lies the device is to let us in on the uncovering of family secrets.

In Secrets and Lies the main characters come from three distinct segments of the working class and two generations. In a reversal of the racial stereotype, Hortense is the only para-professional. The way they interrelate reveals their attitudes to family, property and status. A lot of vulnerabilities and petty illusions are exposed, but in the end everyone comes away with some dignity.

From GLW issue 244