" Secrets and Lies "Fox - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Cinema Club - Region 2

(aka "Secrets et mensonges" )

directed by Mike Leigh
UK 1996

Mike Leigh, the tragicomic English director whose last film, Naked, won him belated fame in America, has a working method so unique it's easy just to ponder that and forget about the films themselves. He starts without a script or even a story line, merely tossing his actors a premise. Through three months of rehearsals, the actors probe motives, test reactions, try out distinctive habits of thought, movement, and speech. The result is a screenplay that traces not so much a plot as the course of an emotional crisis. Except for some punching up for structure and comic bang, it mirrors as closely as possible a phenomenon rarely presented on screen: the real-life behavior of human beings.

But none of this explains why Leigh can bring us close to tears just 30 seconds into a film, before we know these characters from Adam.

Excerpt from Slate's review by Sarah Kerr located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 1996 - Cannes File Festival

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DVD Comparison:

Fox - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Cinema Club - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Gary Tooze and Ole Kofoed for the Screen Caps!

(Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Cinema Club - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Fox Region 1 - NTSC	Cinema Club Region 2 - PAL
Runtime	2:21:40	2:16:08 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.84:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.80 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.82:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.98 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Fox
Bitrate: Cinema Club
Audio	English - Dolby Digital 2.0	English - Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles	English, Spanish, none	English for the hearing impaired or none.
Features	Release Information: Studio: Fox Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.84:1 Edition Details: • Trailer (1:53) • Fox Flix trailer ads (5:43) DVD Release Date: February 1st, 2005 Keepcase Chapters 28	Release Information: Studio: Cinema Club Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.82:1 Edition Details: • Trailer (1:53) DVD Release Date: August 16, 2001 Keepcase Chapters 20

Comments

In my initial review of the Fox DVD HERE, I noted a suspicion of the extreme redness of the skin tones (after all it is Britain not the Bahamas). Comparing this edition with the Cinema Club from the UK will reinforces that dissatisfaction with the colors of the Fox release. Side-by-side the Fox looks ridiculous (note subtitle capture as prime example). It is possible that the Cinema Club has had a touch of brightness boosting, but zooming in extensively I don't see evidence of edge enhancement. Unfortunately the Fox release is sharper. The rest is fairly identical - same audio, subtitle options and extras (a trailer). I guess you may choose on the basis of what is more important to you - color or sharpness. I am more disappointed in the Fox now that I was initially, but not enough to change. Many purchasers will get the least expensive release they can as neither seem worthy of the film yet.

- Gary Tooze

DVD Menus
(Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Cinema Club - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)