Review of Secrets & Lies

Introduction

Mike Leigh is widely viewed as one of Britain`s top writer-directors. His films are intimate observations of everyday, contemporary life. "Secrets and Lies" is typical of his output. Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) has recently lost her adoptive parents and sets out on a voyage of self discovery. This brings her into contact with Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn) who is having trouble with her confrontational daughter Roxanne (Claire Rushbrook). Cynthia`s brother Maurice (Timothy Spall) throws a barbecue party for Roxanne`s 21st birthday, and when Cynthia brings along Hortense, the trouble starts.

Billed as a "bittersweet comedy", Secrets and Lies picked up three BAFTA awards and was nominated for five Oscars. It was financed by a Channel Four partnership.

Video

The transfer is an adequate 16:9 anamorphic one. Like much that is produced by the "British Film Industry", there is little to distinguish it from made-for-television productions.

The review copy supplied ran as far as the layer change (Chapter 13), then locked up completely. Attempts to access later scenes met with the same results. As the earlier scenes on the disk ran without any problems, it is this reviewer`s opinion that the disk`s failure is a quality control issue with VCI rather than a compatibility problem with my machine.

Audio

An unadventurous Dolby Surround 2.0 mix, but then there is little in the movie to justify a more complex sound mix.

Features

Come on, this is a Cinema Club title. There`s a theatrical trailer and English HOH subtitles.

Conclusion

Anything Mike Leigh makes is worth looking at. The quality of the review disk does not fill one with enthusiasm. Even if you aren`t paying full price for a disk, you expect it to work properly at the very least.