Sunday, May 13, 2007

secrets and lies

the first time i saw the film was with shamik in georetown- when on a sunday morning the two of us rode the metro to the city from greenbelt and sobbed away (or at least i did). today they showed mike leighs sap classic from the mid-nineties on z studio, where every sunday afternoon they have begun showing films that are not completely mainstream. this was the first one i watched.

the film has changed a lot for me since i saw it ten years back. while once i was completely drawn into the portrayal of lower and middle class britain; and fell for the rather melodramatic and overwrought storyline, this time although the characters and the context seemed fantastically drawn, the story was a little much.

about a black optometrician who discovers that her adopted mother is white and confronts her only to throw all lives into disarray; with an end that hints a reconciliation and happiness; the film is a classic soap opera tearjerker. i fell for it then, and i think i still did today- but with a few reservations. the cello moaning in between the scenes where people spoke was for me the real annoyance; but the scenes at the photo studio where people pose, or the chemistry between the main actresses, or the middle class anguish of the woman who fills her life with wallpaper and cushions to make up for her childlessness, still managed to draw me in with their acute observations of people and emotions. they felt real.

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