What secrets can be found hidden in the eyes? Do the eyes betray hidden secrets? Can love be found inside a glance? If the eyes are windows to the soul, can a mere look lay hidden desires bare? The Secret In Their Eyes examines all of these possibilities. From motives to missed opportunities, the eyes hold the key.
To fully understand the dynamics of The Secret In Their Eyesrequires an examination of the related Judicial System. This film paints the Argentinian Judicial system as a series of fiefdoms, where the Judge in each jurisdiction reigns supreme. The Judges are assisted by Prosecutors who have investigators working directly for them. Rather than acting as a body independent of the judicial system, the investigations are conducted by the prosecutor's office. This information is important to understand some of the jesting in this script that confuse the roles of the characters. It also affects the plot later in the film when the dynamics of fiefdom end up affecting our lead character.
Benjamin Esposito (Ricardo Darin) is a retired investigator. To pass his time in retirement he decides to write a book about a case that haunted him throughout his career. The film begins with a series of vignettes that don't appear to tie together until we learn that they are failed beginnings for Esposito's book. He visits his long-time boss (and friend) who has been promoted from prosecutor to DA. She advises him to just start from the beginning. As we go back in time with our author, we learn that he and Irene Menendez Hastings (Soledad Villamil) have a long relationship that runs deeper than the still waters on the surface. The two first meet shortly before the murder of Liliana Coloto (Carla Quevedo). It is this murder investigation that Esposito has decided to write about. It appears to be his catharsis.
While we travel back in time with Benjamin, we learn that he was stricken by the unparalleled love he found in Coloto's husband, Ricardo Morales (Pablo Rago). Morales is stricken, but also gives off mixed signals at times. Is there something he is hiding? The investigation eventually settles on a childhood friend of Coloto's named Isidoro Gomez (Javier Godino). The investigation introduces us to Benjamin's other associates as well. He has a drunken partner named Pablo Sandoval (Guillermo Francella) who provides a bit of comic relief along with an important epiphany. The case ends unsatisfactorily, and the book becomes Benjamin's way of dealing with his unresolved past. But the resolutions run deeper than just the murder investigation and lead him to evaluate many important missed opportunities in his own life.
Director Juan Jose Campanella and Eduardo Sacheri created The Secret In Their Eyes from Sacheri's novel. While I was impressed with the performances in this film, the writing and direction were paramount. The foundation of this film is an exceptionally well written story that creates significant suspense and some intriguing plot twists while giving the characters enough of an edge to keep us guessing. The characters were among the best developed as a complete set that I have seen in a long time. We learn a great deal about the characters around our lead, which helps inform the overall story. The dialogue and interactions were credible, original and detailed. The plot twists were predicted shortly before they arrived and managed to be completely surprising (at least for me). Rich characters and an original plot were paired nicely to create fertile ground for the performances.
The writing was complemented with an exceptional cast. Villamil and Darin have incredible on-screen chemistry which allows us to see the passion in their own eyes without relying solely on the writing. The nuance in this film was often depicted through the characters rather than written for them. The cast did a nice job of delivering subtlety along with their lines. Godino was a superb villain, especially given his demure appearance. His actions are anything but effete, making his character even more intriguing. While Villamil and Darin gave impeccable performances, they were given a run for their money with strong showings from supporting actors Rago and Francella. These two supporting actors had important roles that required special qualities, which they both produced. It was a clockwork example of precision pieces working together to make an exceptional film.
The Secret In Their Eyes was rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America. The rating was well-deserved. In addition to a disturbing rape scene (photographs of which were shown repeatedly), there was a great deal of mature subject matter. Nudity, violence, strong language and alcoholism are all central themes. They are all done contextually to add dimension to the film, so I never felt like any of the subject matter was gratuitous. However, this film would not be recommended for younger audiences. I would limit exposure to at least a teenage crowd. Run time is two hours, nine minutes.
I rented The Secret In Their Eyes because it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. I have seen the other nominees for 2010 and felt that this film had a long way to go to beat Un Prophet. It was a challenge that this film met. There was not a characteristic of this film that I found lacking. The dialogue was fresh, the characters were well-rounded, the supporting characters were developed, the plot twists were unpredictable and well executed and the story was engaging. This film was brilliant and fully deserved to win the Oscar. A definite must-see. 9/10.
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