MovieChat Forums > Secrets & Lies (1997) Discussion > The Birthday Gift from Maurice

The Birthday Gift from Maurice

posted 14 years ago by Pearl_Jade
13 replies | jump to latest

At Roxanne's birthday barbecue, when everyone is inside the house about to have cake, Maurice gives Roxanne a birthday card which obviously contains a fair amount of money. At that point, Cynthia's mood becomes decidedly more melancholy.

First, does anyone know what Cynthia said to Maurice after Roxanne opened her card? I saw this on TV and there were no subtitles, so I couldn't make out her words. It sounded like, "When can I give her my present, Maurice?" and Maurice replies, "You can give it to her tomorrow, that's her birthday." (I thought it was her birthday that day; that's why they had the BBQ.)

Second, what was going on here? Did Cynthia forget to get a card and present for Roxanne? Did she give her nothing because she couldn't afford anything? Was she jealous because Maurice had never given her that much money? It seemed something bothered her because she instantly became teary eyed; and shortly thereafter, she told everyone that Hortense was her daughter. The whole gift incident with Roxanne seemed to be the catalyst for unleashing all the conflict and confrontation. Why was that?

[–] ejs8882000 14 years ago

Some people have birthday party's either a day before or day after their REAL birthday, so it's not that strange. And I think what Cynthia said was "I wish I could have given you my present now." I thought it indicated that she already did have a present for Roxanne, she just forgot to take it with her to the BBQ. We already know Cynthia to be a pretty scattered-brained woman, so it's no surprise that she would forget the present.

When Cynthia got teary-eyed, I took it to either mean two things, first is that maybe her present wasn't nearly as "good" as Maurice and Monica's, and she probably thought her present would be "crap" compared to theirs. Another reason, is that Roxanne has such a close relationship to both Maurice and Monica, and maybe Cynthia was jealous of that since her relationship with Roxanne has always been very poor. And when she saw the happy reaction Roxanne had at the money Maurice gave her, she probably wished that SHE could make Roxanne as happy the way Maurice made her. So I believe a little bit of jealousy was a part of it.

So with those two things, and before when Cynthia felt that nobody loved her, she was so overjoyed that finally someone REALLY cared about her (meaning Hortense), and she couldn't hold on to her feelings any longer, so she just blurted it all out.

Sorry, I can't really think straight right now, lol. Does this make any sense?

[–] perorewen 14 years ago

Agree completely with ejs.

**********
- Who's the lady with the log?
- We call her the Log Lady.

[–] Pearl_Jade 14 years ago

Makes perfect sense.

... And thanks for clarifying what Cynthia said.

[–] ejs8882000 14 years ago

Yep, no problem. :)

[–] funky_monkey_8_ 13 years ago

Thanks for the insights! This scene thew me a little.

[–] Violet_Loves_Iliona 13 years ago

I don't think it was about Cynthia forgetting Roxanne' s present because she is scatter-brained (although one could certainly say that she was scatter-brained).

I think her melancholy related to her lot in life, which was brought into sharp contrast with Maurice's "successful" life.

In relation to her comment about wishing she could give Roxanne her present now, I thought it was pretty clearly a reference to Hortense being Roxanne's sister, and how Cynthia couldn't say anything.

Then, of course, Cynthia did say something, which brought the family theatrics into hyperdrive... One of the most memorable (infamous, even?) scenes in recent British cinematic history! :)

Violet

*´¨)
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(¸.·´ (¸.·´

[–] agnieszka01 10 years ago

Good insight, although I can't possibly subscribe to "party's."

The sky is blue

[–] LooyCyphr 13 years ago

"At that point, Cynthia's mood becomes decidedly more melancholy."

I think I remember that she got melancholy because she herself cannot buy a present that expensive. She cannot give her own daughter the gift she'd like to give. I even think she LIED to Cynthia, going "I'll give her mine tomorrow" whilst in reality she might not even have a present OR she wouldn't dare to let Cynthia now what a cheap present she has bought for he own daughter. She's the unsuccesfull one and Cynthia lives in the house of a succesfull one. And in the end, Cynthia loves to show the success of her family/husband in the scene where she's leading everyone throught every single room. I thought she was being pretty arrogant there, with this hidden "look how fantastic our life and house is" message. Also, Cynthia always acts like they're competing. Which is why her husband by the end says something like "I love two women, my wife and my own sister, but I can't love them at the same time, I'm always being chafed in between the two of you!".

Maybe it was because I watched it in German language and the translating is a bit different. But I remember that scene very clearly and that's my interpretation.

"D-E-S-T-R-O-Y : E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G"

[–] smoko 8 years ago

@LooyCyphr I think I remember that she got melancholy because she herself cannot buy a present that expensive.
Yep, that's what I thought too. It's like Cynthia was embarrassed that she couldn't give Roxanne that amount of money. But the wife's name is Monica, not Cynthia.

[–] agnieszka01 10 years ago

You've never heard of throwing a birthday party for someone when it's not their actual birthday that day? Like, their birthday falls on a Wednesday so you have the party on a Saturday to avoid the awkwardness of a weekday party? Or everyone's busy on Saturday, so you have it on Sunday? Or their birthday falls too close to a holiday, so you set the party for a week or two later? This concept can't possibly be foreign to you.

The sky is blue

[–] Pearl_Jade 10 years ago

posted by agnieszka01:

You've never heard of throwing a birthday party for someone when it's not their actual birthday that day? Like, their birthday falls on a Wednesday so you have the party on a Saturday to avoid the awkwardness of a weekday party? Or everyone's busy on Saturday, so you have it on Sunday? Or their birthday falls too close to a holiday, so you set the party for a week or two later? This concept can't possibly be foreign to you.

Well, duh. Thank ya for educatin' our l'il ol' simple noggins.

Read the OP. The question was not, "This movie confused me; why are they having a birthday party for someone a day before her birthday?" The questions were, "What did Cynthia say to Maurice when he gave his present?" and, "What made Cynthia so teary eyed after Maurice gave his present?"

The fact that it wasn't Cynthia's actual birthday was mentioned as an aside, and was incidentally explored as the "excuse" Cynthia could rely on for not presenting her gift.

also posted by agnieszka01:

Good insight, although I can't possibly subscribe to "party's."

BTW, Ms. "You don't know how to spell the plural for parties so I must point it out to you," examine your own errors in written English, to wit: "You've never heard of throwing a birthday party for SOMEONE when it's not THEIR actual birthday that day?" should read "… when it's not HER (or HIS) actual birthday…"

SOMEONE = singular noun, requires singular pronoun
HIS, HER = singular pronoun
THEIR (as you wrote) = plural pronoun, incorrect

[–] agnieszka01 10 years ago

OK, shipdit, 'll give you they plural "they"; I must have been too lazy to type "his or her" at that mo'. I can take a pass on the plural "their" if it means avoiding the clunky, PC "his or her," (forget "hizzer"; sounds too slangy), but once again, I cannot subscribe to "party's." Apostrophes for plurals are among my biggest pet peeves. I'm still convinced you don't know how parties work, baby doll. And guess what, sweetheart, you don't put a comma before a quote when there's an introductory clause, so ooh, you feel salty, Ms. Perfect.

The sky is blue

[–] Pearl_Jade 10 years ago

Well, someone certainly can't take a taste of her own medicine. If you don't like others on a message board to nitpick your errors or misinterpretations in a sarcastic way, then you in turn should refrain from doing so.

And, incidentally, you DO put a comma before a quote to separate quoted material from the rest of the sentence; you omit the comma when the quote is a fragment or is introduced by the word "that." See http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/commas.htm rule #6.