The Secret in Their Eyes
EL SECRETO DE SUS OJOS (THE SECRET IN THEIR
EYES) (18)
D: Juan Jose Campanella
Sony Pictures Classics/Tornasol (Juan Jose Campanella,
Gerardo Herrero & Mariela Besuievski)
Argentina 2009
129 mins
Crime/Thriller
W: Eduardo Sacheri & Juan Jose Campanella [based
on the novel "El Pregunta de Sus Ojos" by Eduardo Sacheri]
DP: Felix Monti
Ed: Juan Jose Campanella
Mus: Federico Jusid & Emilio
Kauderer
Ricardo Darin (Benjamin Esposito), Soledad Villamil
(Irene Menendez Hastings), Guillermo Francella (Pablo Sandoval), Pablo Rago (Ricardo Morales)
A retired lawyer writes a novel of his experiences,
hoping to find closure of one of his previous unsolved murder cases. He also reflects upon an affair with a woman who didn't reciprocate his feelings. Two events of his life which still
haunt him decades later.
This Argentinian crime thriller was very well reviewed
by critics, is amongst the highest rated films on IMDB and won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2010, therefore it should be better received here. Unfortunately, the subject
matter didn't hold my interest, which is made even worse when it's coupled with the 129 minute length.
There were some amazingly directed shots (an aerial
shot of a football match zooms into the crowd to pick out one of the characters was especially impressive) but the story simply didn't immerse me and I found it quite
boring.
In all fairness, it probably deserves a re-watch, and
I may have to reassess.
6/10
