The Secret (2000) User Reviews

Not a secret anymore

[pembekeci · 6/10 · 5 October 2022]

The work of each branch of art means something to the audience, observer and reader. After seeing, listening or reading that piece of art, you can no longer be you. It adds something to you, takes something away from you, breaks your prejudices, makes you acquire new prejudices. Whether it's one or the other is just up to you. You can never have a chance to approach a work of art completely objectively, especially if it is a work that contains human relations.

As many other reviewers have said, although it has problems in terms of visuals and dialogues, the movie definitely requires to watch.

The first of the movie's three crucial scenes is the scene where the mother almost lets her kid fall from balcony. The kid appears to represent the woman's relationship with husband. Should it be protected? Or Should it be let go? I think the artist (writer/director) must have wanted to emphasize that here. Marie's saving the child at the last moment and then drowning him in kisses does not overshadow the fact that Marie is portrayed "for a moment" as a mentally distracted woman who hopes to get rid of her current relationship by letting her kid die and then to reach the spicy sex freely. Very disturbing.

The second important scene is the scene that shows the way Marie explains her affair with another man to François. Coming home showing the marks on her body due to a hard sex. Is this because she has no respect for François? Was she wanting to humiliate the man? I guess not both. It's like removing the Band-Aid in one go. No long speech would ever hurt so much, but no long speech could take the place of such revelation. Hugging her child with those sex marks stamped on her body by someone other than kid's father shows that Marie is trying to normalize it. A mother can have a very hot sex life with anyone other than her husband, and can also be part of a family.

The third important scene is when Marie goes to have sex with her lover, knowing that her husband is following her. Her husband, realizing this, waits until Marie is done, and then says how much it had hurt and humiliated him and wants to leave. I guess Marie wasn't doing this to humiliate François. She wanted to show how much she needed it and to show that she wasn't ashamed of it.

In the last scene of the movie, Marie, who said "I love you" to François, did not want to give up her family or her desire for sex. However, as other reviewers have said, the last scene was not a nice, understandable ending to the movie. It meant almost nothing. Would François, who seemed content with her sex life with Marie, be able to continue to be with her, knowing that he could no longer satisfy her? Will Marie be able to stand her unsatisfying sex life with François in sake of her family? Or would François be able to have relationships that match his energy level? Is sex no more a part of this relationship?

With this movie, I started to respect those who have an open relationship. As I investigated on open relationships, I can say that an open relationship spouse even would be happy that his/her spouse have sex marks. They call it "compersion" which is opposite to "jealousy". These people, who decided to live this difficult dilemma with the least damage to themselves and those around them, started to impress me. Is this immoral? Morality of which era? Is it against the society? Society of which era? I do not know how society and ultimately individuals may be affected by the spread of this new type of relationship. It is very difficult to make this projection. As long as no one forces one's lifestyle on another...

Me? :))) I can't even stand the thought of my spouse being satisfied by someone else :))) Of course, it's not because I'm a great lover! It's just like that...

The last words; any type of lust, great sex or the spiciest affair never worth a kid's life. Don't forget that!

Great acting but some improbable situations

[raymond-15 · 6/10 · 8 September 2003]

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.

good movie for a thought on trying to understand opposite personalities

[cancer_soul · 6/10 · 30 June 2004]

i think the movie wisely displays the act of betraying a husband, without commenting it too much. it explains with little hints how passion (and essential thoughts coming with the act) take over the life of the protagonist. with that parallel relationship she finds the time to see what she needs, what the physical contacts really mean for her, so it helped me to understand a bit more of the mind of such persons. contrary to another comment, i for myself don't think it's really unrealistic, but the movie just shows how secretive people go through deep private experiences, and while they do so, they'll eventually clash with people who, if they're normally open and talkative and get confronted with this, turn into anxious, unsure and possessive partners in such relationships. the movie is a bit light though on that aspect, it's a bit shallow overall on psychology and it will depend on your own thoughts and considerations after to fill it in in a way, on that side.

Strong script, dynamically weak

[mcalwell · 9 September 2001]

'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.

.. better than many of its kind.. but..

[bjarias · 6/10 · 13 April 2015]

Whatever the reason, once you enter into a 'secret' affair you've really broken the relationship, and from all the signs this woman is evidencing, contrary to her declarations of 'love,' she truly wants out of the stifling situation with her husband and child. Proclaiming to 'love' him, but then deliberately and cruelly humiliating him time and again, paints her in a very despicable manner. She says it's necessary for her to choose herself or him, and like all adulterers, she selfishly chooses 'me.' It would be nice to see the sequel, if she were to reach the much needed psychiatrist's couch, and if it could help save her, for she is now doomed for a breakdown with the 'path' she has presently chosen. It's completely delusional, no one would survive for long the current choices she is making. It's a troubling storyline (with an ending that is confusing and senseless), and the acting overall is good. A lot rests on her shoulders, and outside of a misstep or two, she does fairly good work. It would have been nice with more explanation as to why, and a bit more dialogue, but that was not the creators intention. It definitely benefits from additional viewing.

Very poor writing, acting is not good

[AbN01696 · 1/10 · 29 March 2023]

Well this movie is something which you don't wanna watch. The writing of this movie and specially the dialogues are not wroth it. I mean only a psycho will leave their family like the actress of this movie. Even after accepting the affair she is not ready to leave it. Come on you are with your husband for such a long time and you do not even feel sorry for him and you are ready to throw your family away for a person whom you have already saw with someone else and yet you are ready to leave your guy for him. In the scene where she confronts her affair her affair with her husband and even after that she went to her lover again and again and not ready to tell everything about your affair just because you dont wanna feel guilty. Even after the suggestion of her mother she is not ready to leave the guy. I feel very bad for husband who keeps loving her until the last even after facing too much humiliation. In the last scene where she says that she doesn't love the guy and just using him and yet again she keep relationship with him. The most sad scene was that where she went to her lover despite of knowing that her husband is watching and even after that she went and came after a very long time. I mean come on you can not do this to someone whom you love as she said in the very last scene. Even after that humiliation she plays the victim card and wants her husband to be with her bust she won't leave her lover. Come on this is not fantasy this is the extreme level of lust, even in lust too you don't wanna hurt someone whom you love. Ending should be like husband takes the kid with him and throw her out of his house and find some better life partner.

Mid life crisis with unusual and not impossible story

[malcolmsandler-57687 · 8/10 · 25 June 2022]

There have been many contradictory reviews to this 22 yr old movie as has been complementary ones during the same time period From the outset I felt that all the main actresses and actors were not only excellent but expertly cast with relatively unknown protagonists allowing one to identify with a not impossible meeting between Marie and Bill which was coincidently occurred between her being a top saleswoman door to soor avert thouhgt.

This is so bad!

[temp8 · 3/10 · 3 January 2005]

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 secret of the heart

[lili-ivailova · 9/10 · 19 January 2024]

The movie relates to the desire to break free, because the whole wrong structure of the present moment, each of which seems dulling the senses with lack of enough. However, the price is breaking everything built and known, including affection and closeness, which however is not same as love. The relationship with the lover is not just about passion, but the desire to find the ultimate deep love where each moment is endless, making you forget the whole short continuity and making it eternal. It is actually the love she actually desires. The movie is sad because of the hurt one can cause in order to wake up and change something. Birth is painful too, though.

Frankly unbelievable

[harrymanback · 3/10 · 5 July 2007]

The 3 stars I give this are for the performances - little else is worthy of respect. The direction and cinematography are completely flat, and the script is a mixed bag.

Where the film really falls apart though is in the behaviour of the central character. We begin with a woman who has apparently spent 12 years happily married (at least the couple appear happy at the start of the film), and who remained faithful during that time, save one brief kiss with a neighbour. She begins an affair with a man she meets whilst working, and instantly becomes an entirely new character - one that feels no guilt or sympathy towards her husband, in fact who seems to actively seek to humiliate him, and who almost allows her child to fall to its death. No explanation for this U turn into an amoral narcissist is even hinted at, and the character's own explanation consists of little more than a brief burst of existentialist waffle at the end of the film. Ultimately, the character is completely unbelievable, as her actions are irreconcilable with her history.

Bill is something of a cypher: the figure of Temptation. Marie is given much more space to develop than any of the other characters - but Cousens' performance fills the screen. Recommended.

[mmm-16 · 5 May 2002]

Marie, trim bordering on skeletal, is married to only slightly dull François, who wants a 2nd child, (Marie doesn't but doesn't know why) (the 2 year old son comes up with some of the best acting in the film - how do they get them to do it?).

In the course of her work as an encyclopaedia sales person (echoes of Paper Moon) Marie meets Bill, a big black American who lives alone in a villa and seemingly never goes out.

She is simultaneously intrigued and put off by his large direct presence. Gradually the intrigue wins and she overtly seduces him (echoes of Belle du Jour). Mind blowing, graphic, complicated and frequent sex ensues.

It seems as though what Marie is getting from the relationship is more important to her than her husband (desolate), child (confused and weepy) or invalid mother (disapproving, though at least seems to show a flicker of understanding when Marie explains the attraction of sex with Bill being that Bill "invades" her).

The story fairly bowls along and Ann Coesens (Marie) is riveting throughout. The best acting in the course of sex I have ever seen.

The sex is not at all pornographic, actually - although pretty graphic, it serves to explore Marie's motivation rather than titillate.

Bill is something of a cypher: the figure of Temptation. Marie is given much more space to develop than any of the other characters - but Cousens' performance fills the screen.

Recommended.

Le Secret

[cara_coetzee · 22 January 2008]

Le secret is not only an emotional exploration of relationships, both marital and extramarital, but also provides a stark reflection on one woman's search for a life of perfection and fulfilment. This focus and move away from the traditional marriage narrative is what renders Le Secret different from other films of its genre. Coesens plays Marie, a confused mother who turns to American Bill for what to the spectator seems to be mainly for adventurous sex. Le Secret's narrative holds back much of the emotional drive resulting in Marie's affair and without Coesen's subtle yet telling acting the viewer would be lost in her intense personal struggle. To an extent, the ambiguous nature of Marie's emotions towards her husband and lover give the viewer a certain freedom to interpret her relationships for themselves. Even the end of the film, in which Marie and Francois seem to reunite carries an ambiguity and uncertainty with it. The often reserved nature of the script and acting provides a welcome change and challenge in a genre which is often overly predictable and simplified. Much of the dialogue between Marie and her lovers is refreshingly realistic in its uncertainty and honesty.

mediocre

[cogs · 30 October 2002]

"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.

Where to find movie?

[prudvivenku · 2 April 2021]

Noone gave positive response for the ending?

Can anyone explain what happened and whom she choose?