Because we love each other and want to maintain an inseparable relationship between each other, we need secrets and lies to cover up what we don't want to be known. But things often backfire. Secrets and lies can't make us perceive each other's hearts at close range, making us feel lonely. "Secrets and Lies" tells the story of how a family breaks through the barriers that lies bring to family relationships, and finally confronts each other frankly and accepts each other.
The film mainly revolves around 5 characters. They have all felt lonely in the face of class gaps and misunderstandings. Morris runs a photo studio, and Mike Lee spends a lot of space to show the people who came to the photo studio to take pictures and what happened. They don't seem to have much connection with the main storyline, but they tell us from another angle what the movie is trying to tell us. Everyone who came to take pictures was different. They habitually put on different expressions and gestures, and they all came from different classes. People are complex, and everyone is unique. It is also because we have so many differences, and these differences cannot be changed at the same time, so we often choose to cover up with secrets and lies. Morris once took a photo of a young woman, looking at her profile alone. This is a beautiful woman in her youth, but the camera quickly turned to the scarred profile of the woman's other half. She appeared like a true portrayal of Cynthia, Morris, and Monica. Both of them have a seemingly peaceful life, and the lives of Morris and Monica are happy and happy even to outsiders. They are like the beautiful profile faces of this woman that we see at first sight, but at the same time they have another side that is covered with scars and does not want to be known, which prevents them from living happily. The former owner of the photo studio run by Morris returned to the photo studio after a stumble in Australia. He and Morris had a dispute over the ownership of the photo studio. Just like all the contradictions encountered in life, everyone has their own opinions and feels that they are on the side of the rationale, which makes it difficult for us to adjust the problems, so as to try to hide these problems with lies.
The role of Cynthia is the most moving and empathetic of all the roles. This is largely due to Brenda Bryce's outstanding performance, which earned her the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Cynthia is a woman who looks neurotic, crazy, and always on the verge of collapse. Many of her neurotic and incomprehensible behaviors tell us that there is a wounded heart hidden under her fragile appearance. The most profound detail is that when Morris visited Cynthia again after a long time, Cynthia only showed a trace of excitement and excitement at first, and also brought some complaints that Morris had not visited for a long time. But when the loneliness deep in her finally broke out completely, she held Morris and wept bitterly, like a helpless and painful child. And when she talked to Tritons for the first time, Cynthia realized that the secret buried deep in her heart was revealed, and she was completely on the verge of collapse. She denied everything in the past. But the loneliness in her heart, from a mother's most instinctive love, made Cynthia couldn't help talking and meeting Tritons again. Every time Cynthia's mood changes and emotional breakdowns, Brenda Bryce grasps it with extreme precision, thus intensifying the emotional impact brought by the movie.
This movie took nearly two hours to show people’s secrets and lies, and in the last twenty minutes, these secrets and lies were completely exposed. When they learned of each other's secrets, they just chose to cry and hug each other together, which is the meaning of family. It is precisely because we belong to the same family that we will try to experience the pain between each other. We want to use white lies to maintain our fragile and seemingly glamorous appearance and a stable relationship with the people we love. This in itself is out of our deep love for this family. But the true meaning of the family is that after our glamorous appearance is torn apart, there are still some people who can give us care and comfort, and accept the imperfect us.
Class gaps, secrets, and lies keep us alienating each other, but because we belong to the same family, we can embrace each other infinitely close.
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