The Secret in Their Eyes

The Secret in Their Eyes is an Argentinian film that to the surprise of many beat French entry A Prophet to the best foreign language film at this year’s Academy Awards. This movie had to be good. And my word it is; The Secret in Their Eyes is a masterpiece. Catch its extended run at the Watershed while you still can.

Set back and forth over a 25-year gap between 1974 and 1999, it follows federal agent Benjamin Esposito (Ricardo Darín) tasked to investigate the rape and murder of a young woman, and later looking back on the investigation as a novelist.

His memories and other’s recollections of past events merge with fiction as he meets his former colleague, upper class lawyer, now judge, Irene Menéndez-Hastings (Soledad Villamil), and pieces together the case and its aftermath while reigniting the tenderness between them that like the murder has remained unresolved as the years have gone by.

The Secret in Their Eyes has a storyline that will leave you speechless. It is also majestically shot by director Juan José Campanella – look out particularly for the extended scene where the camera swoops down from miles above a packed football stadium to the level of the grass, over the players and then into the stands where Esposito and his alcoholic friend and assistant Pablo Sandoval (Guillermo Francella) are searching for their chief subject in the murder case.

This is mesmerising stuff, a cinematic tour de force which has become the biggest box office smash in Argentina for 35 years and also a big hit in Spain, whose Canal Plus and TVE jointly produced it.

Rather like US television series The Wire, it is often unclear who are the good guys and who are the bad guys in The Secret in Their Eyes, which is based on a novel by Eduardo Sacheri. The fact it is based on a novel gives the movie much depth and characters who have layers that are slowly stripped away to reveal their true selves.

There is no doubt that The Secret In Their Eyes is one of the best films of the year. It is cinema of absolutely the highest quality.

The Secret In Their Eyes is showing at the Watershed until September 16. Visit here for more details.