Review of The Secret in Their Eyes (2009) by Nesbitt10 — 03 Feb 2013

"The Secret in Their Eyes" is directed by Juan José Campanella--it is a splendid multifaceted film which skillfully alternates between the present and past, as it seamlessly intertwines a murder mystery, love story, and judicial injustice. All of these elements of the story are flushed-out--creating depth, and all play a crucial part in Juan José Campanella's adaptation of Eduardo Sacheri's novel. A film that effectively juggles both affection and misery, using Benjamin's conflicted heart as a way to humanize the chilling details, while observing a man not only starved for justice, but after a woman he abandoned decades earlier.

Benjamín (Ricardo Darín), a retired court investigator, is trying to write a novel about an old case of his that was never resolved to his satisfaction. More than two decades ago, a woman was brutally raped and murdered, and although suspects were found, the case against them was thrown out on technical grounds. However, Benjamín always suspected someone else entirely. Benjamín and his assistant Pablo Rago (Ricardo Morles), ultimately were certain that a man named Isidoro Gómez was the real killer. For help, he returns to his old office and bounces his thoughts off Irene (Soledad Villamil), whom he has always loved despite never acting on those feelings. The past and the present begin to merge as pieces of the case are reinvestigated, forcing Benjamín to reflect on his past, and what could have been. But Benjamín's search for the truth will put him at the center of a judicial nightmare, as the mystery of the heinous crime committed 25 years ago continues to haunt him in the present. Interweaving past and present, we see how the investigation affects Benjamín, as well as Irene, over the period of decades. Stealthily weaving Esposito's relationship with Irene into the on-going murder mystery, it takes on a life of it's own--a compulsive narrative that manages to be genuinely surprising. Haunting and gracefully, the film reveals its secrets slowly. Lengthly, but engaging, wonderful storytelling, and extremely well-done. The entire cast is uniformly superb, enhancing this foreign thriller--with its intelligent, layered screenplay. Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film (2010). **This was a unpredicted and surprising winner of the Oscar. It beat out two great films also in contention that year. Respectively-- "A Prophet" and "The White Ribbon.