The Secret in their Eyes (El Secreto de sus Ojos) 2009

In 1974 Juan Perón, three times president of Argentina, is laid to rest and his wife Isabelita is sworn in, the country’s first female president.

In the world of Benjamin Espósito (Ricardo Darín) a man says goodbye to his wife for the last time, before she is raped and murdered in her own bed by a man who will not be brought to justice.

In 2009 Argentina is once again presided over by a female president, Christina Kirchner, and the prosecutors who worked the girl’s case are catching up for the first time in decades. Espósito is retired, an aspiring novelist now. Irene, the object of his desires, is DA, married and a proud mother. It seems the case of that girl 35 years ago is haunting the old man, he wants to write about it and it’s brought him back to her office.

The Secret in their Eyes is the story of men coming to terms with things. Getting over them. For Espósito it is his unrequited love for Irene, something he channels in his novel, and his failure to the murdered girl’s husband, a quiet banker who asks only to see justice done. To be allowed come to terms with what was done to his wife, an act of another man who could not come to terms with a woman who didn’t love him. Women, like Kirchner and Mrs. Perón, watch over or provide the incentive for their actions.

But in the way of the husband and the prosecutor stand corrupt officials, government snitches and good old fashioned Argentinean racism, as a Bolivian builder is arrested and beaten into confession.

What makes Campanella’s film unusual though is that it isn’t a ‘whodunit’- the lead character figures that out, and why, within the first half an hour. The tension, despite the flashes forward, is all in how and if the case will be resolved and why the case haunts Darín’s character. It’s also to be found in the unusual framing of every shot, that bring us too close for comfort, blurring Espósito’s Buenos Aires, creating a fantastic sense of claustrophobia, particularly in the scenes at the football stadium where they hunt the culprit.

Another rare jewel to be found in this Oscar winner (only the second to be won by any studio or filmmaker on the continent) is a valuable, sympathetic and interesting comedy sidekick. Guillermo Francella is a successful Argentinean comedian completely new to the world of gritty thrillers, or any sort of drama, but in the role of alcoholic Sandoval he shines, bringing humour, nobility and humanity to the actions of a dark and unhappy character. Another man unable to let go of something, in this case the whisky bottle, with a wife all too ready to let go of him, he was potentially a character who could take away from the tension. However Eduardo Sacheri and Campanella’s tort script allow Sandoval to be both foil in the hero’s jaunts into rural Argentina and convincing barroom philosopher and genius in some of Buenos Aires’ seedier establishments.

It isn’t so difficult to see how this film landed the Oscar really. Latin America is on the rise in all senses and Ricardo Darín looks set to be Argentina’s biggest export after beef. The soundtrack is haunting, the camera work exciting and the story is both political enough to be ‘worthy’ and slick enough to be accessible and enjoyable. The only lament I would sing for it is that in a film set in part in both of Argentina’s female presidencies, using a rape as the jumping off point for plot and featuring a female DA it is sad the women are a little flat. Soledad Villamil plays her character convincingly, and it is a smart character but she seems divided between exploiting her sexuality to catch a rapist and luring the gaze of the men who work for her.

However that’s far from enough to spoil the film. If you haven’t encountered director or star before this is the film to do it. The Secret in their Eyes is slick, original and will keep you on your toes until the last peel of the soundtrack’s lonely piano.

Director- Juan José Campanella
Starring- Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Guillermo Francella
Runtime- 127 minutes
Language- Spanish

Further Watching

The Son of the Bride (El Hijo de la Novia) 2001

Darín and Campanella’s last Oscar nominated collaboration, part two in a successful trilogy.

9 Queens (Nueve Reinas) 2000

Gritty and witty crime thriller that brought Darín to international attention.

The Official Story (La Historia Oficial) 1985

Argentina’s last Oscar winner, set in the 70s and looking at corruption once more but with far more focus on family and the Dirty War.