Derek Winnert

Secrets & Lies ***** (1996, Brenda Blethyn, Timothy Spall, Phyllis Logan, Marianne Jean-Baptiste) – Classic Movie Review 721

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Writer-director Mike Leigh’s much-lauded film was the triumphant winner of the Palme D’Or at Cannes in 1996. Brenda Blethyn hugely impresses in a Bafta, Cannes and Golden Globe-winning performance as Cynthia Rose Purley, a lonely and isolated working-class London woman, who suddenly discovers she has an adult daughter, Hortense Cumberbatch (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), she never knew about.

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Cynthia lives in London with her sullen street-sweeper daughter Roxanne (Claire Rushbrook). Cynthia’s brother Maurice (Timothy Spall) has a successful photographer’s business and now lives nearby in a more up-market home. Hortense, adopted at birth but now grown up, starts to try to trace her birth mother.

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Just occasionally, there are too many mannerisms in Blethyn’s performance, and the sometimes ploddingly paced film is quite a lot longer than it needs be at 142 minutes to entertain and elucidate.

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But, otherwise, this is a marvellous emotional ride, and there are some great moments, superbly etched atmosphere and memorable characters, as well as classy performances in this excellent film from the great Leigh.

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Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth Berrington, Michele Austin, Alison Steadman, Lee Ross, Lesley Manville and Ron Cook also star. There were five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Actress and Director, but no wins. There were three Bafta awards, with Best British Film and Best Actress and Leigh won the Bafta for Best Original Screenplay.

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© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 721

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