MOVIE CRITICS CHOOSE BRITISH : `SECRETS & LIES' GETS 3 FILM AWARDS.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic

The English family drama ``Secrets & Lies'' won three top awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association on Saturday: for best picture, director Mike Leigh and actress Brenda Blethyn. The tearful story of a middle-age white woman's (Blethyn) discovery that she has a grown black daughter also won the best picture Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

The only other 1996 film to win multiple awards from LAFCA was Jane Campion's adaptation of the Henry James novel ``The Portrait of a Lady,'' which took best supporting actress for Barbara Hershey and tied ``Evita'' for the production design award.

``Shine's'' Geoffrey Rush won the best actor award, and Edward Norton was voted best supporting actor for his work in three 1996 releases, ``Primal Fear,'' Woody Allen's ``Everyone Says I Love You'' and the yet-to-open ``The People vs. Larry Flynt.'' Last week, Rush received the New York Film Critics Circle's best actor award for his portrayal of the disturbed Australian pianist David Helfgott, and newcomer Norton got the supporting nod from the National Board of Review.

Other than that, LAFCA's choices added yet more confusion to what is shaping up as a wide-open movie awards season. The National Board chose ``Shine'' as best picture, and the New York critics opted for ``Fargo,'' which only won one award, for screenplay, from their L.A. peers. However, Joel and Ethan Coen's deadpan comedy about a botched crime spree in snow country was runner-up in numerous LAFCA categories, including picture, director and actress (Joel Coen and Frances McDormand, both National Board winners).

Other LAFCA winners Saturday were ``Breaking the Waves'' actress Emily Watson, New Generation Award; ``When We Were Kings,'' Leon Gast's long held-up film about the Muhammad Ali-George Foreman ``Rumble in the Jungle'' prizefight, best documentary; Hal Willner and the Hey Hey Club Musicians for the jazz-drenched ``Kansas City,'' best musical score; and French suspense master Claude Chabrol's ``La Ceremonie,'' which will open Friday in L.A., best foreign language film.

There was another tie in the category of cinematography, with the award shared by Chris Menges for ``Michael Collins'' and John Seale for ``The English Patient.''

The LAFCA vote continued a general trend among critics' groups this year to overwhelmingly honor independent productions as opposed to commercial releases. Only four movies from major Hollywood studios could claim LAFCA awards, and none could claim them exclusively. Disney's ``Evita'' and Warner Bros.' ``Collins'' both tied in their categories, while Paramount's ``Primal Fear'' and Sony's ``Larry Flynt'' shared Norton's award.

LAFCA also voted a special award to three-time Oscar-winning British animator Nick Park for his body of work and gave its independent-experimental film award to Craig Baldwin for the collage film ``Sonic Outlaws.'' The life achievement award, announced earlier this year, went to Roger Corman, the former horror movie auteur (``Masque of the Red Death,'' ``Little Shop of Horrors'') turned low-budget producer who gave many of the industry's finest filmmakers their start.

As noted, runners-up in the best picture, director and actress categories all came from ``Fargo.'' Other runners-up included Eddie Murphy (``The Nutty Professor''), best actor; Armin Mueller-Stahl (``Shine''), supporting actor; Courtney Love (``Larry Flynt''), supporting actress; and Stanley Tucci and Joseph Tropiano (``Big Night''), screenplay.

The 1996 Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards will be presented Jan. 15 at the Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood.