by
Philip French

Nov. 28, 1999
 

The performances are stilted and, possibly due to heavy cutting, it makes poor sense, and this exotic emigré community on the Cote d'Azur is neither explained nor explored.

by
Eshe Asale

Nov. 26, 1999
 

‘The Secret Laughter of Women’ is a romantic comedy that tells the tale of a cross-cultural relationship, staring Nia Long as Nimi and Colin Firth as Matthew. Both characters come from contrasting backgrounds. Young and beautiful Nigerian woman Nimi is a landscape gardener and a single mum. English sci-fi writer Matthew is Nimi’s neighbour he is also married but spends most of his time away from his wife Jenny (Caroline Goodall). When Nimi’s 7-year-old son Sammy forms a  friendship with Matthew, which coincides with the job Nimi takes to redesign Matthew’s garden, the two opposing characters find that they are attracted to one  another. Nimi’s mother Nene (Joke Jacobs) and the other women in the community are not impressed with Nimi’s marital status and so decide it is time for her to get married. When Reverend Fola arrives in the neighbourhood, he seems to be every mother’s dream for a son in law, and the women join forces to plan various ways in which they can bring the Reverend and Nimi together. It doesn’t take long for Nimi’s beauty to catch the Reverend’s attention and before long the two get engaged and traditional rites of marriage are performed. Meanwhile Nimi and Matthew although having all the odds stacked against them, cannot deny their feelings for one another. They begin an affair that threatens to bring an end to her prospective marriage of convenience. 

Similar to ‘The Wedding Banquet’ and ‘The Joy Luck Club’, The Secret Laughter of Women is essentially a story about an African community where the women are central. The writer Misan Sagay wanted to portray the African women in a positive  light and not as brutalised unhappy victims. There is an Afro-centred point of view and the majority of the film is shown from an African perspective. Even though the community is based in the South of France, there is little indication of the European surroundings apart from the shots of Matthew’s garden. In Nene’s household the Nigerian culture is without a doubt the dominant one. In one scene when Matthew uses his left hand to take food during Sammy birthday party, his lack of knowledge of African etiquette makes him appear alien and you can almost feel his discomfort. In reverse, when Nimi pays Matthew and his wife a visit, she is the odd one out and fidgets in her African clothes appearing over dressed for the casual invitation. Nimi is not the stranger for long and the bizarre arrangement of the open marriage shared between Matthew and his wife, affirms their abnormal behaviour, and reaffirms the African perspective. The contrasting personalities of Nimi and Matthew are reflective of the cultural clash. Nimi is a community spirited person who does not exist in isolation of her extended family, which illustrates the nature of a holistic African view. Matthew is a self-absorbed loner, which reflects the individualist character of the Western culture. 

Nimi is split between two worlds. She feels like a disappointment to her mother who is a typical Nigerian woman. Unlike her mother, Nimi does not possess all of the culinary skills expected of a Nigerian woman, she is an unwed mother and works as a gardener. All of these factors are relevant when dealing with Nimi’s connection with a man like Rev. Fola. The Reverend suggests that Nimi send her son to a boarding school; and is reluctant to take on Nimi’s son with a dowry. But to Matthew, Nimi is perfect, her sense of loyalty, duty and self sacrifice are attributes that he does not see in his wife. These same characteristics however lead Nimi to consider marrying a man that she has little feeling for, in order for her son to have a name. 

Towards the end of the film, Sammy gets trapped inside an old boat on the riverbed. Tragedy strikes as the boat begins to sink. When Nimi realises her son is missing she contacts Matthew and he saves Sammy from drowning. Despite his heroics, Nimi still intends to marry Rev. Fola as Matthew has made it clear that he is not ready for a committed relationship. During the wedding ceremony Matthew shows up just before the vows are finalised. He announces that he wants to marry Nimi and sure enough, the lady is his.

The ending of the film illustrates the complications of writing a cross cultural  romance, whilst aiming to make a radical and challenging stance against former  negative representations of African/Caribbean’s. The narrative closure presents Matthew as a hero which is problematic as it was an issue for the writer to avoid  audiences seeing African/Caribbean characters as secondary to the "great white hope". When considering the conventions of a romantic genre, Matthew heroically whisking Nimi away is not out of the ordinary. Matthew nicknamed "The Devil" by the god fearing Nigerian community, is really the good guy and he steals Reverend Fola’s halo and comes up looking trumps. Reverend Fola’s character is rather one dimensional in comparison to Matthew who has his good points and bad. Perhaps if Reverend Fola’s was a little less of a pain in the butt and made up for his rejection of Sammy by saving him from the sinking boat, Matthew’s heroics would have been less significant. 

This is not to say that there are no good elements to ‘The Secret Laughter of Women’ though, as there are many. The scene that shows Rev. Fola and Nimi’s mothers’ battle with the use of parables is entertaining and highly amusing. The African outfits are stunning and create a bold but subtle statement on the screen. Louise Stansford who has previously worked with Italian director Bertolucci was responsible for the costume design. The Nigerian Embassy also helped out with the various garments. The costume design presents a rich and vibrant display of culture and informs the viewer of the significance of the attire and African culture.

The film is beautifully shot and the cast work well together on screen. Fizzy Roberts plays Sammy effortlessly, and Joke Jacobs gives an excellent performance as Nene. 

If I were to sum up the film in a sentence I would say it has a nice storyline and is a visually pleasurable to the eye. The only problem is that it lacks conviction and the many issues that can arise within cross- cultural relationships are revealed, then papered over to maintain a feel-good factor. On the whole though, ‘The Secret Laughter of Women’ is an enjoyable film that is worth seeing.

by
Nick Bradshaw

by
Christopher Tookey

Nov. 26, 1999

Here's a gentle love story set somewhere attractively different among a small Nigerian community on the south coast of France. The heroine is a single mother and landscape gardener (Nia Long). Her neighbours have it in mind for her to marry the new preacher (Ariyon Bakare). The heroine's seven year old son (Fissy Roberts) has no racial preconceptions and prefers an English writer (Colin Firth) who summers nearby. The theme of prejudices overcome is similar to that in the British hit of the moment "East is East" and this film suffers in comparison. While the two leads charm, some of the other acting is amateurish. Director Peter Schwabach does not avoid cliche and goes for whimsy when a more hard-edged approach was needed to make us feel there's much at stake. It's light on drama and lighter on comedy—a pleasant way of spending a couple of hours.

by
Andrew O'Hagan

Nov. 26, 1999

The film is four drafts short of being ready - many of the situations are tossed off and badly made. The whole thing is at times phonily winsome. It is directed by Peter Schwabach and written by OO Sagay.

by
Peter Bradshaw

Nov. 26, 1999

The direction is leaden; the script sounds as if it has been translated from one of those alien languages from Star Wars Episode One and the child actor recites his lines as if he's reading them off an optician's board. Furthermore, Firth's character succumbs to a baffling cardiac
episode because he is supposed to have a heart condition - something presumably established in the original screenplay, but lost in the final edit. What a mess.
 

Nov. 25, 1999

Peter Schwabach's story centres on the unmarried mother of a lively eight-year-old boy.  Her community feels she should get hitched for decency's sake and select the personable new vicar.  Her son, though, has other ideas.  Setting, culture and unusual concern with respectability give the film its edge.

by
James Christopher

Nov. 25, 1999

In the whimsical romance, The Secret Laughter of Women, Colin Firth's science fiction writer falls for the exotic charms of a Nigerian single mother (Nia Long). For all the obvious cultural baggage, it's the clash of personalities that distinguishes O. O. Sagay's script.

Firth is filthy rich, very English, and very persistent. Long is proud, prickly, and for the purposes of tinkering around Firth's sumptuous villa, a budding garden designer. Her irritatingly sweet son, Sammy (Fissy Roberts), is the mutual point of contact. Sammy is a sci-fi nut who adores Firth and his cartoon junk. But Long's African fiancé, Ariyon Bakare, a chippy clergyman, is having none of it.

"The man is a degenerate," screams the Reverend fire and brimstone to the resident Nigerians who hang out with Long's sanctimonious mother. Bakare has a point. Firth is selfish, bored, unhappily married, and scathingly blunt. "Life isn't about enough," he instructs Long. "It's about more." Only the faintest shrug of the shoulders, and a panicky twitch of the eyes betray the fact that he might be wrong. It's a disarming performance: big on charm and bottled anguish. Long gamely shuffles between attraction and dismay while her gossipy friends threaten to turn her flat into an African version of Steel Magnolias. The comic chill thaws, and a wobbly romance sparks.

Shot with a light, glossy touch, its director, Peter Schwabach, neatly outlines the risks in this tussle of heart over tribal loyalties (Firth's as much as Long's). That they do so without too much sticky manipulation is something of a miracle. Rambling and slight it may be. But it's also surprisingly endearing.
 

by
Nick Dawson

2 stars

The eight-year-old boy has recently met an English ex-pat writer, Matthew (Colin Firth), who’s the creator of his comic-strip action hero Saracen.  Given that the latter is such a brave, exciting and honourable character, then surely Matthew would make a much more suitable stepfather than the patronising priest priest?

Director Peter Schwabach and scriptwriter OO Sagay have attempted to fashion an affectionate portrait of a tightly-knit Nigerian community-in-exile, where the womenfolk are both supported and hindered by their concept of duty.

Yet there’s something faintly racially patronizing about many of the characterisations, whilst the fairytale ‘love-conquers-all’ central relationship between Nimi and Matthrew follows a disappointingly predictable trajectory.  (He must overcome his inhibitions about committing to a relationship, she needs to follow her heart.)

Any chemistry between the two lovers is dissipated by Firth’s anaemic performance, albeit in an underwritten role.  This terrain of cross-cultural romance was explored far more perceptively and poignantly in ‘My Son The Fanatic’.

London Film Festival
Nov. 11 and 12, 1999

In a picturesque coastal town in Southern France, Nimi (Nia Long) leads a relatively peaceful life amongst the women-centred Nigerian community.  A landscape gardener by trade and the mother of Sammy (Fissy Roberts), a lively, imaginative eight-year-old, she is happy enough.  But her unmarried status is a concern to her mother and her traditionalist neighbours, and a plan is hatched to match her with the community's new, handsome and single vicar.  In the older woman's eyes he is indeed a Godsend, but Sammy has other ideas.  To his mind, local ex-pat Matthew (Colin Firth), the creator of his comic book hero Saracen, is an infinitely preferable prospective stepdad.

This sunny, likeable comedy about the rocky road to cross-cultural romance has enough wit and humour to raise it above the norm, and scores highly with its depiction of the closely knit, protective group of women, bound by their belief in duty and respectability.
 

Nimi (Long) is a young single mother from Nigeria and her family is desperate to hook her up with the priest (Bakare) at the local Anglican church. The Nigerian community has very strong bonds, maintaining their cultural heritage and viewing the white man as satan. So they're all rather upset when Nimi's sparky 7-year-old son Sammy (Roberts) starts spending time with Matthew (Firth), who writes the action-comic Saracen, Sammy's hero. Soon a flash of attraction develops between Matthew and Nimi, but how can they cross the cultural divide, Nimi's engagement and Matthew's marriage?

Yes, the film does gloss over the rough edges of its story--it doesn't really have any teeth. The Nigerian subculture is very colourful and quirky, Matthew's marriage to Jenny (Goodall) is conveniently open and wobbly, Nimi's difficult past is only barely described, and even the hint of tragedy is pretty tame and at odds with the film's feel-good atmosphere. But the likeable, talented cast keeps things charming, the complex setting is quite interesting (although there's never any sense that this is happening in France) and, well, sometimes it's just nice to sit back and enjoy a rather undemanding love story.