Review of Secrets & Lies

Introduction

Mike Leigh has written another story based upon very real lives but this time with the concept of secrets and lies that go on in families and their ensuing revelations. This is typical Leigh with writing and charaterisations that are very compelling, coupled with a strong cast that can pull it off without over acting.

Video

Secrets & Lies is presented with a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer which isn`t too bad at all. There`s evidence of minor dirt specks but it`s not enough to be distracting. Colours and contrast look okay and I couldn`t really spot any problems such as artefacting. The intentional `British` look is firmly established as there aren`t a great deal of colours or locations in use.

Audio

Nothing overly dramatic here. This is a character driven story, so the plain DD2.0 audio track works well enough in this department. Music sounds okay and dialogue is clear from the front channels.

Features

Static and unimpressive menus with scene selection, a trailer and English subtitles.

Conclusion

I like Secrets & Lies quite a bit, there are truly quality performances from Brenda Blethyn, Tim Spall and the rest of the cast. I`m mesmerised by the long takes watching the actors do what they do best, it`s quality stuff indeed. An interesting story with good casting, Mike Leigh has written and directed an enjoyable and emotive film. The film works well throughout, taking us from point-to-point exploring these lives, going up and down to the end. The pace seems to be about right and I enjoyed watching it.

The lack of commentary or other extras is a shame, particularly since I do want to know more about this film. Seeing as this film is released at a low price-point what matters more is a good transfer for a good film, and this is just fine on both counts. At the time of writing (Dec 01), Secrets & Lies could be had for just £7.99 from Under18.

Lastly, referring to Mark Oates review where he had problems with the disc, I have to say that I did have a few problems also. While the film played fine from start to finish, I found that if I scanned forward or backwards or paused the film after the layer change on chapter 13, my Arcam DVD player would stop responding. The only solution was to power off and start again, and this disc has got a lot of logos to get through before playing the movie. This is unusual, irritating and never happened before. Playing the disc on a PC though showed no problems at all with the disc so I can only assume it`s the odd disc/machine combination at play.

If you like Mike Leigh`s work then you`ll know what to expect from Secrets & Lies. It`s different enough to stand out from the crowd of other low priced DVDs, comes with a good transfer and comes thoroughly recommended.