The Secret In Their Eyes
Release: 27 May
Duration: 127 minutes.
Rating: MA (sexual violence and nudity)
It gives me great satisfaction to discover that even though we are inundated with 3D movies and High School Musicals, real films still exist. I mean real, intense, moving films. Films that are nothing short of beautiful.
In case you aren’t completely sure where I’m heading in my awe-fuelled state, The Secret in their Eyes is one of those beautiful films. The Argentinean picture, directed by Juan José Campanella and adapted from the novel by Eduardo Sacheri, was the winner of this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, a very well deserved achievement.
For a storyline that is so complicated - a murder against the backdrop of corruption, accompanied by a love story – there is an exquisite flow to this film.
Benjamin Esposito (played by Ricardo Darin) is a former court clerk writing a novel to keep himself occupied in his retirement. He decides to recount an horrific 25-year-old rape-murder case.
The case was eventually solved following a series of strange and unlikely coincidences – the only real flaw in the story. But Esposito was so affected by the grief of the victim’s husband and the injustice of the crime that he felt compelled to tell the story.
As Esposito delves into the shadows of his past, he becomes nostalgic for lost opportunities. Lost opportunity number one comes in the form of Irene (Soledad Villamil), Esposito’s stunning former colleague and one of his closest friends. The chemistry between the two is as compelling as it is frustrating.
The most entertaining performance comes from Guillermo Francella who plays Sandoval, Esposito’s bumbling, drunken co-worker. Sandoval’s comic relief is a much-needed break from the drama and grief of the rest of the film, although it is Sandoval who comes up with one of the most outlandish plans to catch the killer. As I mentioned earlier, the process involved in the eventual capture of the killer involves a few too many coincidences that are not quite believable.
Ricardo Morales (Pablo Rago) is the traumatized husband of the murder victim. Rago plays the part well, oscillating between an unnerving cheerful demeanor and a darker fury.
Esposito identifies with Morales’ sense of loss; he feels drawn to the man’s anguish in losing his wife and compares it to his ‘loss’ of his beloved Irene. Although it might seem strange to align Morale’s loss with Esposito’s fear of rejection, it highlights one of the most debilitating of human traits – our own fear.
Beneath the convoluted plot, the beauty of the film lies in the simple messages it conveys. There is far more to be gained than lost if we come to terms with our fears. Esposito takes a little longer than most to realize his fears, 25 years in fact. But hey, he gets there in the end.
