Set in 1999, recently retired Buenos Aires federal justice agent, Benjamín Espósito (Ricardo Darín) decides to write a book about a case that has haunted him for years. From here the story unfolds slowly as we see flashbacks to the case of a brutal rape and murder that happened in 1974 against a backdrop of the political instability in Argentina following the death of Perón.
Earlier this year the movie was the surprise winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film beating the favourites The White Ribbon and A Prophet, the first thing I have to say is that it is a well deserved win. As much as I loved the other two movies The Secret In Their Eyes is not only more accessible but it also has more to offer the audience. It is a more intimate and personal story unlike the broad political strokes of the other two movies. The White Ribbon was praised for its stunning cinematography (criminally losing out to Avatar in that Oscar category), but this movie is also impressive in that department making fantastic use of light and colour. It also features the most impressive single take shot ever even outdoing Snake Eyes. The camera starts out in the sky about a mile from the a football stadium, it then tracks forward and moves into the stadium, across the pitch, into the stands before turning into a chase through the corridors at the rear of the stadium. All this happens whist the football match us still going on in the background. It would not have been physically or logistically possible to do all this in one take so there must be edits somewhere but it is still a hugely impressive scene.
The acting is great and keeps the viewers focus on the movie that is held together by a strong performance by Ricardo Darín (star of con artists movie Nine Queens that was remade in America as Criminal) as Benjamín Esposito the investigator turned writer. But the heart and soul comes from the fantastic supporting cast Soledad Villamil as Irene Menéndez Hastings, Benjamin’s boss whom he has a complicated relationship, Guillermo Francella as his Alcoholic assistant Pablo, Pablo Rago as the husband of the murdered woman and Javier Godino as prime suspect Isidoro Gómez. The story, it is basically a murder mystery except that there is little mystery over who the murderer is, this part of the story all appears to tied up neatly with an hour still to go, this leaves time for a few interesting twists and turns that are always compelling. The portrayal of Argentina politically in the 1970’s is fantastically handled, whilst the movie doesn’t appear overtly politically the troubles and their effects are always there in the background occasionally becoming integral to the plot. This makes the movie uniquely Argentinean and hopefully immune from the remake treatment.
Don’t be put off by the subtitles, this really is one of the best movies of the year and only the second movie to receive:
Five Stars out of Five
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