Secrets & Lies
Secrets & Lies is a 1996 drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh. Led by an ensemble cast consisting of many Leigh regulars, it stars Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Hortense, a well-educated black middle-class London optometrist, who was adopted as a baby and has chosen to trace her family history – and discovers that her birth mother, Cynthia, played by Brenda Blethyn, is a working-class white woman with a dysfunctional family. Claire Rushbrook co-stars as Cynthia's other daughter Roxanne, while Timothy Spall and Phyllis Logan portray Cynthia's brother and sister-in-law, who have secrets of their own affecting their everyday family life.
Plot
Hortense Cumberbatch, a black optometrist in London who was adopted as a child, has chosen to trace her family history after the death of her adoptive mother. Despite being warned by public officials about the troubles she could face by tracking down her birth mother, she continues her investigation and is surprised to learn that her birth mother is white.
Awards
More details
| author | Mike Leigh |
|---|---|
| award | National Board of Review: Top Ten Films Palme d'Or |
| contentLocation | London |
| director | Mike Leigh |
| editor | Jon Gregory |
| events | adoption descent dysfunctional family family family conflict identity secrecy |
| genre | drama social |
| keywords | adopt adoptive mother birthday party black british bus stop cry east london expect family history id medical student meet morning nothing optometrist optometry pub trouble want |
| musicBy | Andrew Dickson |
| nomination | Academy Award for Best Actress Academy Award for Best Director Academy Award for Best Picture Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay European Film Award for Best Film |
| producer | Simon Channing Williams |
| productionCompany | Ciby 2000 Film4 Productions Thin Man Films |
| publisher | Film4 Productions |
| recordedAt | London |
| theme | black independent |