Written and directed by Mike LeighBrenda Blethyn
Maurice Jean-Baptiste
Timothy Spall
Claire Rushbrook
Premiere date: September 27, 1996
R for language.
Hortense, a young black optometrist, has just buried her beloved adoptive mother. In her sorrow, she embarks on a search for her birth mother, who turns out to be Cynthia, a white factory worker living a lonely life with her surly daughter Roxanne. No one in the family, except Cynthia's brother Maurice and his wife Monica, knows that the teenage Cynthia gave up a child for adoption without ever seeing the baby. Hortense contacts Cynthia, and after a heart-wrenching reconciliation, they become best friends. Cynthia convinces Hortense to attend a birthday party and meet the family - as a mate from the factory - but during the cake and champagne celebration, the family's secrets and lies emerge in a cathartic, emotional sweep.
Palme d'Or
Best Actress - Brenda Blethyn
Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
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5 Academy Award Nominations
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actress - Brenda Blethyn
Best Supporting Actress - Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Best Original Screenplay
3 comments:
I've seen this long long time ago... and I wasn't a fan.
as good Blethyn is, no one can reach the brilliance of Emily Watson in Breaking the Waves
Brenda Blethyn is the best, and no one can beat her :)
I absolutely adored her in SAVING GRACE :)
She was also good in SLEEPING DICTIONARY and ATONEMENT.
Blethyn and Baptiste were great, and Secrets & Lies is one of Mike Leigh's best.
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