Top class Argentinian mystery

Rating: 9/10 (28 June 2010)

Well this Argentinian mystery film was a very good experience. Going in to it, I had absolutely no idea that this movie had won the best foreign film Oscar at the Academy Awards. When I discovered this immediately afterwards I had to admit that the Academy for once may have got things spot on. This is a terrific film. It's a murder mystery with romantic subplot underpinning it. The acting is excellent and the cinematography is brilliant, on one occasion quite extraordinarily so (but I'll come to that later).
The basic plot-line has Esposito (Ricardo Darín) a retired detective trying to write a novel about an old case that still haunts him. The crime was the vicious rape and murder of a young woman. In his memoir Esposito uses the memories of others to build the story, and his objectivity is clouded too because he is in love with his superior Irene Menéndez Hastings (Soledad Villamil). The old case from 1974 is then told in a series of flashbacks, while in the present Esposito tries to make sense of it all.
Darín and Villamil are especially great in the two lead roles. While he is a man with much vulnerability, she is very strong; the chemistry between both actors is wonderful and as a central pair they are never short of convincing as three-dimensional characters. Also very convincing is the period setting. The year 1974 is captured perfectly in terms of look and uneasy feeling (this was just before the military junta took control); the latter is alluded to in scenes where the state is clearly seen to be acting in highly corrupt and immoral ways. One of the beauties of this film is that it touches on so many different themes without being trite or aimless; as well as the aforementioned political situation, the film works seamlessly as a mystery and a drama about people living in limbo.
Of course it's all very well and good being thematically interesting. But this is cinema and does it deliver on that front? Well I did mention earlier the presence of a sequence of unbelievable technique. All I will say is, the sequence in question starts with a night time view of a football stadium from up in the air, from here we rapidly approach and then dip into the bowl of the arena while hovering above the game in action and then seamlessly arrive in the midst of the crowd; from here we continue to play the scene where the crowd erupts for a goal and a chase ensues around the inner workings of the stadium, ending up on the pitch. This scene lasts for the best part of ten minutes and it is one glorious unbroken shot. Although there must clearly be some trickery involved as it would be frankly impossible to physically achieve this shot, I for one saw not one obvious break. It's a breathtaking piece of cinematic art and worth the price of admission alone.
There are certain other short scenes of striking power, such as the sequence where the killer shares a lift with Esposito and Menéndez, and initially pretends that he has not seen them. He then takes his gun out and loads it. After exiting the lift we then see him briefly stare menacingly back in at his two principle antagonists. The sinister mind games at play are brilliantly presented in this short slightly off-kilter scene. But the film as a whole is full of little moments of unexpected excellence like this, including the final denouement, which I was not expecting; I won't give it away but it is a satisfying conclusion to the mystery.
If you haven't already guessed, I loved The Secret in Their Eyes and I highly recommend it to everyone. It's great to see a film every so often that is capable of surprising you. It makes you realise that cinema is still alive.