Le secret
- 2000
- Tous publics
- 1h 47m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
883
YOUR RATING
It would seem that Marie has it all: a loving husband, a charming child, and a good job. But something elusive with a terrific force continues to pull her to another life to another man.It would seem that Marie has it all: a loving husband, a charming child, and a good job. But something elusive with a terrific force continues to pull her to another life to another man.It would seem that Marie has it all: a loving husband, a charming child, and a good job. But something elusive with a terrific force continues to pull her to another life to another man.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 2 nominations total
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It's a common theme where an ex-marital affair almost destroys a seemingly happy family. Under the pretence of a heavy workload promoting the sale of a "World Encyclopaedia". Marie makes repeated visits to Bill a dance director who formerly had his own Dance Theatre in America. He is big and strong and dominant and black. On her second visit after a whiskey or two she disrobes while he is answering a telephone call in an upstairs room. Imagine his surprise when he returns. She virtually offers herself to him. I cannot believe what I am watching. No subtlety at all. It seems a most improbable situation. Just a wisp of a woman and a mountain of flesh!
Apparently Marie finds excitement in their continuing sexual encounters (although she shows very little emotion) and is constantly knocking on his door for more. He is happy to be of service. His sexual acts become increasingly wild and violent and love bites on her neck finally give her little game away.
The acting throughout is truly professional, even their baby boy is great and lovable. The script is questionable at times. The ending in the swimming pool is utterly ridiculous. I guess the script writers are trying to tell us something...they are giving us a symbolic gesture of cleansing...a washing away of past sins...and a promise of a new beginning.
Apparently Marie finds excitement in their continuing sexual encounters (although she shows very little emotion) and is constantly knocking on his door for more. He is happy to be of service. His sexual acts become increasingly wild and violent and love bites on her neck finally give her little game away.
The acting throughout is truly professional, even their baby boy is great and lovable. The script is questionable at times. The ending in the swimming pool is utterly ridiculous. I guess the script writers are trying to tell us something...they are giving us a symbolic gesture of cleansing...a washing away of past sins...and a promise of a new beginning.
Noone gave positive response for the ending?
Can anyone explain what happened and whom she choose?
Can anyone explain what happened and whom she choose?
I sincerely wish I wouldn't throw 2 hours of my life, on this awful piece of sound and motion, they dared to call a movie.
The only normal thing is the acting of the husband (Michel Bompoil) and the black lover(Tony Todd), which is good.
Everything else is just bad. The script is half baked and repetitive at times. Directing is more suitable to "B" movies.
During the movie I just waited for it to end, and the only reason I kept watching is my hope for something extraordinary at the end, but the end is even worse the the rest of the movie.
I give it 1.5 out of 5.
I do not usually comment on movies, but this one was so wrong, that considering its rating I must warn others to stay away.
The only normal thing is the acting of the husband (Michel Bompoil) and the black lover(Tony Todd), which is good.
Everything else is just bad. The script is half baked and repetitive at times. Directing is more suitable to "B" movies.
During the movie I just waited for it to end, and the only reason I kept watching is my hope for something extraordinary at the end, but the end is even worse the the rest of the movie.
I give it 1.5 out of 5.
I do not usually comment on movies, but this one was so wrong, that considering its rating I must warn others to stay away.
'Le Secret' is a frustrating film. You know it must be doing something right because you walk away emotionally exhausted, and with the sense that you have seen something of the human condition expounded. At the same time it is wanting in enough ways to undermine its claim to greatness. It is wanting dynamically to such a large extent that, whilst it is a good script and a good story, it it is not a good film. And as a piece of narrative, it is inconclusive, and not in the sense that it terminates with a poignant and provocative question. Arguably this is a film which could be remade, utilising the same script and the same cast, but using different artistic and technical direction. The camerawork adds nothing to the film. It creates no tension, no atmosphere, does not enhance the mood or emulate the powerful experiences of the characters. It is flat, weak and pedestrian. The film lacks any geography and fails to resound the timing of events (essential in a film about this subject). In short, its elements are powerful, but its construction is poor. It lacks focus. The film treads a clumsy path between an intense emotional struggle that borders on the surreal, and an ambivalent realism. It achieves neither. The direction needs to be more decisive, it needs to choose one over the other; and it needs to employ the camera more effectively to realise it. There is no differentiation in the filming between the house of the lover and the family home. Additionally we get no sense of atmosphere of either one. There is none of the seduction in the former, or of tedium in the latter, that the protagonist might be feeling. Are we supposed to believe that Marie is having fantastic sex with Bill? If so, it is only through her inadequately exposed acting. What keeps Marie coming back? Only she knows. What is driving her to maintain this relationship? We can only speculate, because the film gives us little insight into the personalisation of her experience. Additionally, the conclusion is weak and vacillating. However, this film will undoubtedly touch a nerve with anyone who has been in a similar situation. It powerfully depicts the insidious destructiveness of infidelity on both the individual, the family, and to some extent society. To conclude, a wasted opportunity, with much unrealised potential.
"Le Secret" is a fairly mediocre French film which focuses on a woman's attempt to find some existentialist truth, or some such crap, through the exploration of rather graphic sex. In that sense it is a little like Brellait's "Romance" but it seems to lack that film's intensity of design. So for the most part it seems distanced and closed. There is an expectation of the conclusion which is not met and the film is to some extent redeemed by this (unexpected?) ending but what has come before makes the film as a whole unbearable. Also, the acting and writing is pretty average.
Did you know
- TriviaIn reference to her nude and sex scenes, Anne Coesens said: "I was very afraid of doing the nude scenes. I discussed it with Virginie, I don't think you have to force an actor. What I am giving is because I had the desire to do so. So I asked Virginie to build the scenes like a choreography, everything was written down to the smallest detail. Everything was clear, precise. Obviously, if I concentrated on the rhythm, the movements, I could forget my modesty a little bit. If the scenes had been improvised, I wouldn't have done it. "
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- $166,721
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