Revisiting this Argentinean movie on DVD, there is still a sense that the Oscar jury were a little generous in awarding it the best foreign language award in the face of such stern competition, but in a way I am glad they did, as it is such a quiet unassuming film which maybe otherwise would have got little attention from western audiences.
Ricardo Darin plays Benjamin Esposito a retired lawyer who has become obsessed with an unsolved murder case twenty five years old. So obsessed in fact that he makes it the topic of a novel he is attempting to write. As he struggles to get the project of the ground, we flash back to how events unfolded twenty five years ago. Benjamin is helped to retrace the steps by ex-colleague Irene (Soledad Villamill), and in flashback he chases up the case of murdered Lilliana Coloto (Carla Quevedo), with the help of clumsy drunk Pablo Sandoval (Guillermo Francella). Things start to get out of hand when Lilliana’s boyfriend Ricardo (Pablo Rago) starts to pursue her suspected killer Isidoro Gomez. Esposito and Sandoval look to track Gomez down and get to the bottom of the case.
The Secret in Their Eyes is a rich in texture, old fashioned thriller, stylistically it appeals to the senses with a shadowy and murky paint palette, with adept camera movements, each shot carefully frame scenes point of view, scenes calmly dissolving into each other with little tension or pick up in pace.
The title quote comes from when Esposito releases that Gomez is staring at his victim in a photo, this creates a direct link to the frozen image, which in turn puts focus on the art of storytelling and recovered memory, which are all forms the film plays with.
The one scene which feels like a big budget blockbuster is when Benjamin and Pablo track Gomez down to a football match, and the stadium opens up like the coliseum in Gladiator with a beautiful tracking shot following the action as things intensify on and off the pitch. Another key moment is when Irene, who up until this point has remained neutral suddenly belittles Gomez verbally and tricks a confession out of him.
This is a wonderfully restrained, sweaty thriller, with a twisty plot, and a nice range in performances. It is only let down, by an over egged final third where a certain sentimentally is over played. It is also a film which has one ending too many; however the final twist is quite something.
The extra features are a little tame with cast & crew interviews, a behind the scenes feature and trailer all of which hardly scratch the surface.
The Secret In Their Eyes is out on DVD 10th January 2011.
Director: Juan José Campanella
Cast: Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Pablo Rago
Runtime: 129 Min
Country: Argentina, Spain
Film Rating: 
