"Secrets and Lies" is a 1996 work by Mike Leigh. The film focuses on a few ordinary people. A young black woman, Huttens, started looking for her biological mother shortly after her adoptive mother passed away. She found that her biological mother was a white man named Cynthia. Cynthia is a single mother who lives in a dilapidated rental room with her daughter Roxer. The relationship between mother and daughter is strained. Cynthia has a younger brother named Morris, a photographer who runs her own photo studio. He has a good relationship with his sister and niece, and is planning to hold a 21st birthday party for his niece at the suggestion of his wife Monica. Monica is unable to conceive and have children, so her husband and wife relationship do not know where to go. There is also a grudge between her and Cynthia. As for Huttens's sudden appearance, Cynthia was both nervous and repulsive at first, but after meeting several times, both of them felt natural closeness and relaxation. The sudden addition of a daughter diverted part of Cynthia's daily attention from Roxel, and the relationship between mother and daughter gradually eased. Cynthia invited Hutens to attend Roxer's birthday party. At the birthday party, Cynthia disclosed the true identity of Huttens, and Morris also revealed the secret of being unable to bear children with Monica. The grievances and misunderstandings between the family were also eliminated. The whole movie does not rely on the plot of the "event", and relies entirely on the character of the little character. With their full emotions, the movie has a flesh-and-blood foundation. It is only natural to move the audience. In Mike Lee’s films, the characters are the most important. He did not make use of the "events" of the story. He believed that the "events" could not touch people's hearts. All events were triggered and driven by the character of the characters; therefore, his works often did not have a script. The "improvisation" performance of the actor has become a direct bridge to show the character and the relationship between the characters. This is also the focus and direction that Mike Lee has been devoted to exploring. His uniqueness is that the true feelings and real situations of ordinary people can be seen and felt by the audience through his works. Long Yingtai said that literature refers to literature in the broadest sense, including literature, art, aesthetics, and aesthetics in a broad sense. If we say that literature has one hundred so-called "functions", and I must choose the most important one, my answer is—German has a very precise term—macht sicht bar, which means "to make invisible things be seen". In my own perception, this is the most important, essential, and core role of literature and art. Ordinary people's life is repeated day after day. If you repeat too much, it will become a habit, and you will ignore it when you get used to it. And Mike Lee wants to show the real life of ordinary people, so that the audience in ordinary life "sees" and feels the real hurt and pain, love and hate, helplessness and compromise.
How did Mike Lee manage to "let the invisible things be seen"? For example, how the tense relationship between Cynthia and Roxel, mother and daughter, is visualized in the trivial and tiny details of life. Living in a cramped and shabby rental house. Cynthia is fragile and lonely, but always has love in her heart. Her love has transformed into excessive attention to her daughter in daily life, which has brought invisible pressure and spiritual burden to the grown-up Roxy. In Roxer’s eyes, her mother was a failure. She never looked at her directly. She always looked like she couldn’t avoid it. Even if her boyfriend came to ring the doorbell, she didn’t want to lead into the house to see Cynthia, but Take him away. Roxel's dislike of her mother exacerbated Cynthia's loneliness and vulnerability. The audience seemed to see the mother and daughter being sucked into the deteriorating black hole. The performance of the pain points in the relationship between Morris and Monica is also very classic. Still not using any "events". Morris came home from get off work, and Monica was vacuuming. Morris asked her if she wanted a glass of wine, and she exasperated and said, if I wanted to, I would get it myself. Then let Morris cook his own food, specifically emphasizing not to mess up the house. The cold and tough attitude has made the audience feel that the relationship between husband and wife has reached a freezing point, but it seems that it has not reached an irretrievable state. Monica turned around and said to Morris, "Don't do it, but order takeaway." She came to her period and felt uncomfortable. Morris thoughtfully soaked her in a hot water bottle to cover her belly to relieve the pain. On the mantelpiece of the house is a photo of Roxel when he was a child. Morris said he liked this photo very much. When Morris went to visit his sister, Cynthia asked him, will you have a baby and let me be an aunt? Morris didn't know how to answer, making an awkward excuse and hurriedly left. Mike Lee showed a natural balance with a sense of rhythm in character expression. Cynthia is the engine of emotions, followed by Roxer and Monica; while Morris represents rationality, delicacy, and calmness. She has been loved by her sister since she was a child. When he grows up, he is the only male in the family, the pillar of support, the sister and his wife. Spiritual patron. In the workplace, whether it is a wedding location or a studio shot, the mood of the subject is controlled and controlled by him. Hutens also grew up in the love of his adoptive parents. He has a peaceful personality and an open mind. Whether he is friends or Cynthia, he is more understanding and tolerant. It is this kind of character balance between characters that makes the relationship between movie characters form a natural magnetic field. Another touching feature of this film is the soundtrack. On the basis of the actors' full emotional expression, adding classical music, it sounds deep and long, and it highlights the true concentration and thickness of emotion. In an interview, a reporter asked Mike Lee: In most films , The music reminds the audience’s emotions and conceals the actors’ shortcomings—the actors’ difficulty in expressing emotions or maintaining a tone. In your movie, the emotional performance is very full, and the tone shift is also very clear. I often ask myself, with such a performance, why do you still need music. Mike replied: "Music is not isolated, nor is it clinically applied music. They come from the true response to the film's tone and emotions. Music can bring out flavor; music adds flavor; music enhances flavor. I particularly agree with the interpretation. Sound and supplementary music is terrible. I hope that the music in these movies is not like this. I do prefer to work with composers who use live classical instruments. The contributions of composers are usually personal to them, yes. Original, but my contribution here is also very personal. The mood and style in the music have my taste." British movies are different from Hollywood movies and French movies. They have a low-key and calm quality. . Where does this trait come from? Seeing Mike Leigh's movie, I seem to understand a little bit. British films do not create dreams based on wishful thinking. They pay more attention to reality, respect reality, and pursue realism. Mike said: "I believe that British film creation should be driven by events in the real world or social changes, rather than being influenced by Hollywood films that artificially shape the concept of life as it is now." It is precisely because of this uniqueness. The inheritance and persistence of British films have never been and will never be swallowed up by Hollywood. On the contrary, Hollywood movies have shown signs of decline due to the flaws in their film values. As the weather vane, the Oscar film selection has become more and more tasteless in recent years. It is precisely because of this unique inheritance and persistence that British films have never and will never be swallowed up by Hollywood. On the contrary, Hollywood movies have shown signs of decline due to the flaws in their film values. As the weather vane, the Oscar film selection has become more and more tasteless in recent years. It is precisely because of this unique inheritance and persistence that British films have never and will never be swallowed up by Hollywood. On the contrary, Hollywood movies have shown signs of decline due to the flaws in their film values. As the weather vane, the Oscar film selection has become more and more tasteless in recent years. It is precisely because of this unique inheritance and persistence that British films have never and will never be swallowed up by Hollywood. On the contrary, Hollywood movies have shown signs of decline due to the flaws in their film values. As the weather vane, the Oscar film selection has become more and more tasteless in recent years. It is precisely because of this unique inheritance and persistence that British films have never and will never be swallowed up by Hollywood. On the contrary, Hollywood movies have shown signs of decline due to the flaws in their film values. As the weather vane, the Oscar film selection has become more and more tasteless in recent years.
View more about Secrets & Lies reviews
