THE SECRETS IN THEIR EYES 3.5**** ( almost 4***)
The Secret in Their Eyes, the recent Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film from Argentina, is a murder mystery and psychological thriller, a lighthearted love story, a meditation on memory, and a look at justice , or more so the lack of it in Argentina in the 1970s during the military junta. As the film opens, Benjamin Esposito, a retired Buenos Aires state criminal investigator, decides to write a novel about the 1974 rape and murder of an attractive newlywed 23-year old woman, a case that was closed by the authorities but never solved to his satisfaction. To obtain access to the file on the unsolved rape-murder case he spent so much time on, Esposito pays a visit to Irene Hastings, his former supervisor and chief supporter who is now a judge.


The story is set in 1999, but is told in flashbacks that for a change are well done and seamless. Espósito, becomes spellbound by and subsequently entangled in the investigation of the crime of the young woman . Her widowed husband is shocked and distraught by the news and Espósito, feeling the man’s deep pain, vows to find the killer and bring him to justice. In his exhausting search he is aided by his alcoholic assistent and a newcomer, the upper class lawyer Irene, who takes over as department chief. Espósito's rival, Romano pins the murder on two immigrant workers so as to get rid of the matter, an issue that enrages Espósito. Nonetheless, and persisting in the investigation, he finds a clue soon enough while looking over some old pictures provided by the husband. He comes across a dubious young man - identified as Isidoro Gómez – who looks intensely at the victim in a suspicious way in several photos. This much is revealed early in the film…the rest you need to see for yourself to experience the excitement and suspense of the hunt.

The movie also weaves into the story the love between two couples…the intense realized love between the victim and husband and a subtle unspoken love that boils beneath the surface between Esposito and Irene.... with the love of the husband for his young murdered wife highlighting the somber effect of time, or its lack thereof, on those whose eyes may or may not hold the secret. And this movie is also about the people who get left behind when someone they love dies . It's about loss, memories, and bittersweet revenge . Oh and another thing ..... with such a powerful ending for the movie we learn another thing about the potential for the cruel nature of us human beings . When a film comes together as well as this, with the full advantage of classic mystery and graceful originality, it's a joy to behold.
NOTE: This Argentine movie is in Spanish with English subtitles. Also, it is rated “R” for a rape scene, violent images, some graphic nudity and language. Lastly, it’s fairly long at 2 hrs and 7 mins.
Clark