The Secret in their Eyes - Film Review

Toast of the Latin American film business, and profile raising winner of last year's Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, Juan Jose Campanella's taut, thoughtful thriller/drama hybrid spent much of 2010 as everyone's must see alternate cinema experience. An Argentinian story of corruption, camaraderie, revenge, retribution and unbidden love over the course of a number of years, El Secreto de Sus Ojos certainly lives up to it's billing.

We start with retired legal counselor Benjamin Esposito (Ricardo Darin) trying, and ultimately struggling, to get beyond the fifth line of his novel, having decided to use his twilight years, not to mention years of experience, more productively than codgering about. In an attempt to gain some more insight into the subject of his book, he visits his old friend and former boss Irene (Soledad Villamil), for some reminiscing and semi-research. The story of his novel will be that of an unresolved, and ultimately live affirming investigation they once participated in, dubbed the Morales case.

The film flashes back to 1974, where a younger Esposito and his trusty righthand and general eccentric Pablo Sandoval (Guillermo Francella) are introduced to their new superior, Irene, fresh out of a pricy education at Cornell. Their office is assigned the case concerning the rape and murder of a young woman, Liliana Coloto (Carla Quevedo) in her Buenos Aires home. In the course of the investigation, Esposito speaks with her newly wed husband, Ricardo Morales (Pablo Rago), whom he promises swift justice. For reasons he cannot quite fathom, Esposito develops an emotional attachment to the case. After overcoming the attempts of rival counsel Romano (Mariano Argento) to crack their case by ordering the beating induced confession of two lowly builders, Esposito finds a break through in one of Liliana's old photo albums, a childhood friend of the victim who eyes her suspiciously in all of the pictures he features in. The man is named Isidoro Gomez (Javier Godino).

With the police unwilling to take firm action on such wobbly evidence, Esposito is forced to take his own measures to find proof. Their problems are exacerbated by the actions of Morales, who in a peak of emotional trauma, phones Gomez's mother asking for his location, in turn tipping off the suspect who promptly disappears. He reels in Sandoval, who's increasing alcohol problems cause concern, to help him, and together they break into the mother's house, looking for evidence of Gomez's new address. They are ultimately caught out, and are rebuked by their Judge, Ordonez (Rudy Romano), who punishes them by closing the case.

A year later, the case still on Eposito's mind, he runs into Morales by coincidence at a train station. After sitting down to talk, he discovers that Morales has, every day, been coming to the terminal and held surveillance watching the crowds, hopeful that one day he will sight Gomez and gain the justice and redemption he was once promised. Overwhelmed by this encounter, Eposito successfuly convinces Irene to reopen the case, at the risk of being tied up in red tape, and they restart their quest. When Sandoval discovers a clue in one of Gomez's letters they stole, it sparks off a new avenue of investigation, leading them down a disturbing, dangerous and ultimately fatal path that changes the lives of all concerned.

What could so easily have been a routine, unsatisfying thriller is given a densely layered, satisfyingly complex presentation here by Campanella and his fellow writers, in a film that is ironically novel like with it's various subplots, subtexts and agendas. One part procedural drama, with a fine eye for small details and the hardened disheartening nature of wrong turns in the case, it also serves as a personal story, with numerous other themes prominent, giving the piece emotional poignancy. Each of the characters are fleshed out supremely, giving them tells, turns and moments to shine, while the film takes on political edges also. Numerous parts of the plot, in particular the participation of the sleazy Romano, serve as a searing indicment of 1970's Argentina under Videla's dicatorship, and in particular the ramifications of the 'Dirty War' raged against the country's left wing.

The other particularly impressive and ultimately memorable part of the film's mosaic is the platonic love affair between the pent up Esposito and the unavailable Irene, an enduring saga that would be relegated to neglected sub-plot in most Hollywood-type disposable crime stories. Although the story may not be deeply original, it's portrayal here is highly refreshing and is rewarded with a satisfying, if amiguous, conclusion. Much is left unsaid, projected by lingering looks, unfinished sentences and misunderstandings, rather than by monologues and exposition heavy speeches.

The character driven nature of the film also gives it much pathos. Esposito and Irene may be given fully formed arcs, but attention is also paid to the seemingly smaller parts of Sandoval and Morales, both of whom have tragic and heartbreaking stories to tell, each sharing personal moments that bring a tear to the eye. Revelations, particularly in the final third, are both shocking and thought-provoking, a very personal attachment from the viewer to the characters manifesting itself at the sharp end. That such a story is levened by some genuinely amusing humour, such as the background journey of a malfunctioning typewriter, and Sandoval's inspired method of screening his office calls, gives the piece a more human, highly appreciated touch.

Ricardo Darin, bearded Alan Rickman-lookalike extraordinare, gives a highly dignified, deeply layered portrayal as the protagonist Esposito, a lifelike conundrum of a man. Although rash, and taken to following instincts in his work, he refuses to do so in his personal life, the genuine minefield that shrouds his dangerous job into insignificance until the Morales case. As we learn more of his character, we understand more about his story. His novel, seemingly an attempt to stave off boredom, is in fact a reactionary impulse at the dissatisfaction his life has produced in it's later years. Similarly, Soledad Villamil brings a complexity to her role, as well as a genuine charm that makes her attractiveness undoubted, making Irene both realistic and hugely likeable. The two share a palpable chemistry, essential in leading the story.

While a troup of bit part players excel in creating background, the supporting artists really do thrive on their subplots. Guillermo Francella provides a sadness to Sandoval, making him more than a loveable caricature, sympathetic but flawed, funny but ripe for pity. Javier Godino, as the principal villain, is genuinely menacing in some places, detestable in others and downright pathetic at times, a very human angle on, again, a part that could have slipt into cardboard cut out scumbag for hire. And special praise is also deserved for Pablo Rago, rich with pathos in his protrayal of the emotional haywire that is Morales, a man left without his life and desperately seeking a purpose. His arc asks serious moralistic questions over the nature of justice, and how it should be applied. If anyone is to be allowed retribution, it is surely him.

Amazingly, the film also balances it's rich drama with genuine thrills, with a number of standout scenes cementing the director's abilities to harness suspense and action. A stunning single take chase during a football game, taking in aerial shot's of the ground, sifting through the crowd, and the unpredictable pursuit within the belly of the stadium, is both massively ambitious and completly taut, an incredible feat of filmaking. On the other end of the spectrum is the now famed elevator scene, a terrifying and unbearably tense wordless exchange that lasts less than a minute, yet somehow emerges as a classic cinema moment. That such virtuoso moments both serve as adverts for the film, and also prove hugely pivotal to the plot and characters, is nothing short of miraculous.

It's easy to get carried away, and ultimately spoiled, by hype, but for once The Secret in Their Eyes both justifies it's reputation and proves a genuine surprise, a carefuly constructed piece that has an almost harmonic balance of everything you could want from a film, and more so.

9/10