The Secret in Their Eyes [El secreto de sus ojos] (***½)
Directed by: Juan José Campanella
Starring: Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Carla Quevedo, Pablo Rago, Javier
Godino, Guillermo Francella
Seen: December 16th 2010
***½
Out of ****
The
Secret in Their Eyes won the 2010 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, as well
as 13 Argentinean Academy Awards and 4 nominations in 2009. This is not without
reason, as this is, in my humble opinion, only surpassed by one other foreign
language film this year, Red Cliff by John Woo.
At
its core, The Secret in Their Eyes tells of the relationship between the once
married but now single Benjamin Esposito (Darín) and the married with
children Irene Menéndez Hastings (Villamil); and it tells it in two
chronologies. Esposito is a federal agent in one time, retired in the now;
Irene is a judge in the now, and was on her way there then. The young Esposito
is assigned to solve the rape and murder of Liliana Coloto (Quevedo), the beautiful
young wife of Ricardo Morales (Rago). Two men are eventually arrested for the
crime, but Esposito does not believe them to be guilty. He has someone else in
mind for the crime, one Isidoro Gómez (Godino), but when he is arrested
an opposing member of counsel works up a deal for the murderer, and the case is
closed amidst Irene, Esposito and his partner Pablo Sandoval’s (Francella)
objections to the contrary.
Years later Esposito is struggling to get started on his first book, an
attempt to tell the story of what happened so many years ago. He visits Irene
in her chambers, where the two old friends immediately connect and reminisce. Esposito
almost completes his novel, but is hampered by one thing – at the ending of his
novel he is left with one unanswered and nagging question: “How does one live a
life of nothing?” His quest to find his answer leads him to an aged Ricardo
Morales living in seclusion in the countryside, and he discovers things that assist
him in finding closure, delivering a knock-out punch to the viewer.
But all of these plot twists means practically nothing if you don’t
factor in the relationships between the characters in this movie. Yes, it’s an
investigative drama, but the relationships between the main characters, their
reasoning behind their actions, and the emotions it all invokes, sometimes
almost unexpectedly and quite sudden, carry this movie to the majestic piece of
cinema presented on screen. The Secret in Their Eyes is brilliant, and it gets
into your head surprisingly strongly, and unlike many American movies nowadays,
leaves the viewer breathless at what just transpired on screen. I can strongly
recommend this movie, if you’re not allergic to subtitles, that is …
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