The Secret in Their Eyes
Directed by José Campanella
Argentina & Spain, 2009
Cornerhouse, 4 September 2010
Still from The Secret In Their Eyes
The film that won the Best Foreign Film award at this year’s Oscars.
It is a curious blend of crime drama and love story, set against the backdrop of Peron’s Argentina. When a young bride is raped and murdered, Benjamín Esposito (Ricardo Darín) is assigned to the case. He promises the bereaved husband justice, ‘a life sentence’ for the killer but no more, and he is led to acknowledge, gradually, his love for a woman whom he has long neglected. For if he doesn’t act on his desire both he and she will be serving a life sentence of their own.
If you can imagine James Ellroy putting his own characteristic spin on Chekhov’s ‘The Lady with the Little Dog’ (with Ricardo Darín playing the part of Gurov) then you will have some sense of what the film is like. This may take quite a bit of imagining, granted.
On the whole, The Secret in Their Eyes is a richly rewarding experience. And never has the truth of the proverb that revenge is a dish best eaten cold been better illustrated.
