Secret and Lies Blu-ray - Timothy Spall

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(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

This hilarious, bittersweet comedy from director Mike Leigh (Mr. Turner) is an unmissable and moving slice of real life.

Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) is a young, black optometrist whose adoptive parents have recently died. Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn) is a sad, unmarried mother who works in a factory and lives in a shabby terraced house with her confrontational daughter Roxanne (Claire Rushbrook). Cynthia's brother Maurice (Timothy Spall) is a successful photographer who lives comfortably in suburbia with his wife Monica (Phyllis Logan). In a misplaced effort to re-unite the family, Maurice and Monica throw a small barbecue party for Roxanne's 21st birthday. When Cynthia brings along her new friend Hortense, chaos ensues and some painful truths are revealed.

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 1996 - Cannes File Festival

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Fox - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Cinema Club - Region 2 - PAL vs. Channel 4 - Region 'B' - Blu-ray vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Ole Kofoed for the DVD Screen Caps!

Box Covers				BONUS CAPTURES:
Distribution	Fox Region 1 - NTSC	Cinema Club Region 2 - PAL	Channel 4 Region 'B' - Blu-ray	Criterion Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	2:21:40	2:16:08 (4% PAL speedup)	2:21:50.250	2:22:17.570
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	Disc Size: 32,678,470,310 bytes Feature Size: 29,385,537,984 bytes Total Bitrate: 24.00 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC	Disc Size: 48,725,945,616 bytes Feature Size: 37,403,473,920 bytes Total Bitrate: 31.24 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Fox
Bitrate: Cinema Club
Bitrate Channel 4: Blu-ray
Bitrate Criterion: Blu-ray
Audio	English - Dolby Digital 2.0	English - Dolby Digital 2.0	LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1985 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1985 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English, Spanish, none	English for the hearing impaired or none.	English, none	English (SDH), 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	Release Information: Studio: Channel 4 1.85:1 Disc Size: 32,678,470,310 bytes Feature Size: 29,385,537,984 bytes Total Bitrate: 24.00 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC Edition Details: • A Sense of History (25:11) • Mike Leigh on Secrets and Lies (5:12) • Trailer (1:53) Blu-ray Release Date: March 2nd, 2015 Thick (UK) Blu-ray case Chapters 12	Release Information: Studio: Criterion Disc Size: 48,725,945,616 bytes Feature Size: 37,403,473,920 bytes Total Bitrate: 31.24 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC Edition Details: • New conversation with Leigh and composer Gary Yershon (30:05) • New interview with actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste (27:43) • Audio interview with Leigh from 1996 conducted by film critic Michel Ciment (1:29:22) • Trailer (1:56) Blu-ray Release Date: March 30th, 2021 Transparent Blu-ray case Chapters 17

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray March 2021': Criterion have transferred Mike Leigh's "Secrets & Lies" to Blu-ray from a "New 2K digital restoration, supervised by director Mike Leigh and director of photography D. Pope". As well as a higher bitrate over the 2014 Channel 4 1080P, the image is brighter, warmer flesh tones and a tad sharper. Overall, it looks superior.

NOTE: We have added 28 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

Criterion use a DTS-HD master stereo track (24-bit) in the original English language. The score is by Andrew Dickson (Leigh's Meantime, Naked) and it sounds flawless as a representation of the original. Criterion also offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

Criterion include some supplements on their Blu-ray. There is a new 1/2 hour conversation with Leigh and composer Gary Yershon recorded remotely in Cornwall and London for Criterion, in which director Leigh talks to his friend the composer Yershon about the making of Secrets & Lies. Also presented is a lengthy 1996 audio conversation between Leigh and film critic Michel Ciment. There is a new 28-minute interview with actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste recorded remotely in London for the Criterion, where critic Corrina Antrobus talks to actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste about her role in Secrets & Lies. Lastly, is a trailer. The package includes liner notes with an essay by film programmer and critic Ashley Clark.

What a treasure to revisit. Mike Leigh's "Secrets & Lies" remains a wonderful film experience. The deep probing drama is offset with real-life humor, it has fabulous performances - an effective character-driven effort we don't see enough of these days. The Criterion Blu-ray is excellent doing justice to the masterful film and we give it our highest recommendation!

***

ADDITION: Channel 4 - Region 'B' - Blu-ray March 15': The greens and blues on the SD turn passive and grey/earthy brown on the 1080P. I can't tell you what is more theatrically accurate, but the Blu-ray gains in detail, sharpness, and modest depth. Now, beside the Blu-ray, I think the greenish tinge of the Cinema Club DVD looks more prominent and is incorrect. The 1.85:1 Channel 4 BD looked quite good on my system - appearing more improved as the film rolls along. There is a bit of movement in the frame, generally, losing some information at the bottom. In the final tally, I think the higher resolution wins the presentation contest although it can look fairly 'light' at times.

Audio is transferred in a reasonably robust linear PCM 2.0 channel at 2304 kbps. There isn't much going on with the relatively passive soundstage - and everything is handled easily by the uncompressed. There is a score by Andrew Dickson (Leigh's Naked) that plays subtly in the background. Channel 4 include optional English subtitles on their region 'B'-locked Blu-ray disc.

Supplements include A Sense of History - a 1992 Mike Leigh short 26-minute comedy with the 23rd Earl of Leete (Jim Broadbent) sharing brief moments of his life, the truth behind his family estate and his particular glorious moment when he murdered his wife and his brother. We also get 5-minutes of Mike Leigh on Secrets and Lies and a trailer.

Great film, worthy of revisiting. The Blu-ray is priced right and the extras short adds value. Recommended!

***

ON THE DVD (2005): 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 like it could be incorrect (note subtitle capture as prime example.) It is possible that the Cinema Club has had a touch of brightness boosting, but I see a it looking green - which is often the sign of a failing telecine machine. 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

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