Everyone deserves to know where they come from. That is a fundamental truth that is also a matter of controversy that has prevented some people from discovering where they originated. Organizations like Bastard Nation dedicated their time to helping push home to people that it should be a basic right in North America for those who were adopted to have access to their records and any information that may be out there about their birth parents. That, and other groups, have successfully gotten several USA states to approve legislation to open sealed adoption records. Back in 1996, this group was just beginning, and one of their early approaches was to stage what they called a Positive Picket, urging people to see the movie Secrets & Lies because of its positive message about a woman who sought out her birth mother and reconnected with her.
The message in the film was clear, but it also is not the definitive result of such a search. For some, the birth mother may not want to reconnect, or the situation may not be ideal for a reunion, especially if the mother has not told anyone, a husband, partner or kids, that she ever had a child she put up for adoption. Sometimes the birth mother is still unfit to be a parent, and the introduction of a person seeking out who birthed them can bring much sorrow or even worse. Every situation is different, but options should still be available.
Mike Leigh is an interesting filmmaker. He was inspired to make this film based on experiences from people close to him. Though what is on screen is fictitious, he was inspired by those around him as well as a desire to explore the new generation of black people who were moving on from urban stereotypes. As is typical with his working process, he didn’t start with a script but an idea, characters, and a group of talented actors that he could rally behind the concept and create a film from.
Leading this group of actors is Brenda Blethyn playing Cynthia Rose Purley, a working-class woman in East London. Cynthia has a grown daughter from a romantic dalliance in her past who walked out on her, leaving her pregnant. This daughter, Roxanne (Claire Rushbrook), resents being a bastard child and has a rocky relationship with her mother. She also wishes to know who her father was, but Cynthia refuses to tell her anything about him. Cynthia also has a second daughter whom she has never seen. This child was given up for adoption at birth and predates Roxanne.
Cynthia’s brother, Maurice (Timothy Spall), is a successful middle-class photographer who runs his own business. His wife, Monica (Phyllis Logan), is battling depression over her inability to bear children. The two have spent years trying everything possible to conceive, but it hasn’t happened. Cynthia assumes that Monica just doesn’t want any children because the couple refuses to reveal that she is infertile. This has created a rift in their relationship, with Monica seeing Cynthia as self-pitying and hysterical, while Cynthia sees Monica as greedy and snobbish. Maurice is caught in the middle of all of this and, while he tries to be the peacemaker, he rarely visits Cynthia anymore.
Hortense Cumberbatch (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) is a black optometrist who has always known she was adopted but not who her biological mother was. Shortly after her adoptive mother passes away, she embarks on a journey to trace her family history. This leads her to a name: Cynthia Rose Purley. She also notes that the paperwork lists Cynthia as being white, which she initially assumes means the paperwork is in error. But she is assured that is not the case, so she sets out to contact Cynthia via the phone. Cynthia is shocked when she receives a call out of the blue but eventually agrees to meet Hortense. When she sees that she is black, she too assumes that something is in error. But that is not the case. The man Cynthia thought was the father of her first child was not the one. Who that person actually was is never revealed, although there are hints that it may have not been consensual.
Cynthia initially tries to introduce Hortense to the family as a work friend, hoping to ease her into the family that way. She does so at a birthday celebration for her other daughter, Roxanne, but the stress of the experience is too much for her, and she eventually breaks down and admits the truth. Naturally, lots of tough truths, revelations, and pent-up emotions come out with Maurice in the middle trying to keep everyone together.
This is a movie filled with tears and bitterness. We know little about Cynthia’s life before we meet her except that she never married and had two children out of wedlock. Her life has been a pitiful one based on her poor life choices, and we get the impression that Maurice and Monica had to step in a few times to help raise Roxanne. She is an emotional wreck, and her relationship with Roxanne is virtually non-existent as the two fight constantly over Cynthia’s perceived meddling in her personal life. Roxanne supposedly has a good brain in her head but has no ambitions in life, rebuffing any notion of going on to higher learning and is content in her job as a street sweeper. When the revelation of Hortense comes out, Roxanne is furious at her mother, and only Maurice’s intervention keeps her from running away.
But after the drama settles down, what is surprising is that she has no problems with Hortense, not even that she is black. It is briefly mentioned that it might be awkward introducing her as a half-sister, but that is all there is on the subject. Hortense being black really doesn’t factor into the equation like you would think that it would. It’s mainly only addressed when Cynthia or Hortense are in disbelief about it early on. Whom Hortense’s father was remains a mystery, with the only response Cynthia gives being “Don’t break my heart.” She also admits that she had thought another man was the father and that she assumed Hortense had come prematurely.
Familial relationships are complicated. You can’t choose who you are related to the way that you can the people you hang out with. Family ties can be bitter at times, and sometimes people elect to sever those ties over disagreements. The relationships we are seeing in this film are relatable. They are also quickly identified and, in the case of Maurice and Monica, misidentified at first. As we get to know that couple, we reexamine our initial assumptions about them and realize that there is a great deal of personal pain that these two are working their way through. This is in sharp juxtaposition to the way we see Maurice interacting with his clients. He has a way with people that he has struggled with bringing home to his wife after all those years of her bitter disappointment in not being able to have children. It’s never really brought up, but we get the impression that they would be greatly blessed if she were to decide to adopt a child as a means to fulfill her ambitions of motherhood.
This is not an easy topic to tackle. It runs the risk of devolving into too much bitterness. Hortense’s optimism early on helps avoid that. Later, when she is getting to know her birth mother, we finally start to see Cynthia happy. She has spent a lot of years dealing with a daughter who seemingly hates her, and now she has a daughter who wants to be with her and get to know her. Brenda Blethyn and Marianne Jean-Baptiste play this dynamic perfectly, often in long, uncut sequences where it is nothing but the two of them talking. This is no easy feat, but they absolutely nail this awkward relationship that develops into a rich mother/daughter love.
This movie was considered one of the best films of the 1990s, and for good reason. It is raw, emotional, and sometimes shocking. It is a character study that is also making points on the importance of giving adoptees options should they choose to find their biological parents. Things may not always turn out wonderfully in that situation, but the options should be there. This film hits at the heart and leaves you with a sense of hope that is fully earned. It takes the time to make sure we understand these people, which makes them real to us. That translates into a vested emotional interest in their lives, and that’s a key necessity to take a film from being merely good to being great.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Simon Channing Williams
Best Director: Mike Leigh
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Brenda Blethyn
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: Mike Leigh
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Release Date: May 24, 1996
Running Time: 136 Minutes
Rated R
Starring: Timothy Spall, Brenda Blethyn, Phyllis Logan, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Claire Rushbrook, Ron Cook, Lesley Manville, Elizabeth Berrington, Michele Austin, Lee Ross, Emma Amos, and Hannah Davis
Directed by: Mike Leigh
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