jarvis cocker of pulp once said that he wrote common people after noticing mike leigh box - sets on the video shelves -- he had a feeling that economic deprivation was becoming a tourist experience for the well - off .
maybe it 's a classic case of displacement : it 's easier to see jarvis ' own lyrics ( obsessed with acrylic and wood chip on the wall ) as a fetishization of lowlife , rather than leigh 's films .
but it 's worth being reminded that drab interiors and a couple of working - class characters do n't make for a guarantee of ' authenticity '
, let alone a good film .
it 's the triumph of secrets & lies , then , that it goes beyond gestures of sympathy for the common people into a probing of just what it means to seek ' authenticity ' and honesty in everyday lives .
following her adopted mother 's funeral , hortense , a young black optometrist , sets out to find her birth mother , and is disturbed to find out that she is white .
it is cynthia , a factory worker who lives in a shabby house with her perpetually moody daughter roxanne .
cynthia 's younger brother maurice is a successful photographer who has not seen his sister for ages , largely because of his wife 's animosity towards her .
hortense calls up cynthia , who initially breaks down in tears and refuses to see her .
but their mutually suspicious meeting gives way to a warm friendship eventually .
cynthia invites hortense to come along to a party , which maurice is hosting . . .
secrets & lies has a simple enough theme at its heart -- as one character puts it , " best to tell the truth , is n't it ?
that way nobody gets hurt .
" .
but if the film delivers much more than a trite message , it 's because we are also shown how hard it can be to face up to ugly truths , even while the evasions and unspoken grievances slowly choke us .
hence , cynthia 's difficulty with acknowledging ( first to herself , then to others ) that hortense is her daughter .
one of her first reactions to seeing hortense is a sincere denial that she has ever " been with a black man " , before a long - suppressed memory seizes her .
at the party , cynthia 's pretense that hortense is her factory co - worker leads her to ever more convoluted lies , as agonizing as they are funny .
little lies seep into every corner , like maurice pretending that he 's " just dropping by " when he visits cynthia after much deliberation .
maurice 's job as a photographer gives the film opportunities for side comments on the main theme - a sad - looking bride that maurice coaxes to smile , a couple who pose awkwardly with a prominent wedding ring and argue about his spectacles .
one of the most startling images is of a beautiful woman with large scars on her face : she says she needs the photo to look " as bad as possible " to collect insurance money , yet the short scene leaves you wondering about what untold story lies behind the scars .
there are occasionally hilarious moments , as when cynthia attempts to give her daughter some unwelcome advice on contraception , " i 've got a dutch cap floating about somewhere upstairs " ; or when cynthia stares at her own rather pedestrian legs and tells roxanne , " if you 've got it , flaunt it , is what i say . " as played by brenda blethyn , cynthia comes close to being a caricature , with her nervous , somewhat disconnected way of talking .
but she 's really just right for the role of someone who inspires sympathy and yet strains the tolerance of those around her , precisely because she 's so needy of love , perhaps .
indeed , the whole cast gives warmly rounded , detailed performances .
the script was developed partly through improvisations , and the fusion of cast , script and director shows best in the party scene - seemingly everyone is talking at the same time , and yet many subtle observations are being made throughout .
in a very different way , but also using a long single shot , the scene of hortense and cynthia 's first meeting in a lonely caf=8a achieves a touching intensity , all the more for their reticence and unspoken feelings .
the film 's climax - with all the secrets and lies finally spilled out in ibsen - esque revelations , and everybody hugging each other - is the one thing that seems false about this film .
however , it 's a film that truly earns its happy ending after the misery and repression of the character 's lives .
when cynthia says near the end , this is the life , innit ?
, you get the sense that , following the cynicism of his last film naked , leigh has rediscovered that life can be sweet after all , without comforting illusions .
the flying inkpot 's rating system :
* wait for the video .
*
* a little creaky , but still better than staying at home with gotcha !
*
* * pretty good , bring a friend .
*
*
* * amazing , potent stuff .
*
*
*
* * perfection . see it twice .
Output: P