True romance is about  suffering

Rating: 9/10 (1 June 2015)

I was curious and intrigued, but mostly skeptical when I first read the brief description of "The Secret in their Eyes" in a TV- magazine. It stated: "a romantic thriller about the unresolved rape and murder case of a beautiful girl 25 years ago". Huh? How can a thriller, especially one dealing with such painful topics like rape and murder, be romantic? And yet, the description is 100% accurate and truthful. This harsh thriller is simultaneously one of the most emotional stories that I ever witnessed and it's romantic at no less than three different levels! There's the obvious but oppressed romance between lead character Benjamin Esposito and his court superior Irene Hastings, and then there's also the more convoluted but undeniably romantic devotion that widower Ricardo Morales shows for his murdered wife and the perverted (but yet somehow romantic) motive of culprit Isidoro Gómez for committing the inhuman crime. One things for sure, "The Secret in their Eyes" is one of the most absorbing, beautiful and unforgettable films of the new millennium. I was wondering how on earth it could be possible that Michael Haneke's masterful "The White Ribbon" didn't win the Oscar for best foreign film for 2009, but now it makes perfect sense. Those people at the Academy were more than right to award this film instead! "The Secret in their Eyes" deserves every price that it won and it also deserves to be seen by as many people as humanly possible!
In 1974, the beautiful and lovable Liliana Coloto is found brutally raped and murdered by someone that she obviously must have known and trusted. The crime is so vile and shocking that it even silences the experienced court room counselor Benjamin Esposito. With the help of his alcoholic but brilliant colleague Sandoval and his new supervisor Irene, whom he's desperately in love with, Esposito identifies the unmistakable culprit and promises Liliana's grieving widower Ricardo that he will spend the rest of his life in jail. But the assumed killer is released shortly after due to internal courtroom corruption and personal vendettas and Esposito narrowly survives an assassination attempt. 25 years later, the retired Esposito travels back to Buenos Aires with the intention of writing a novel about this case that altered his life. He goes to see Irene Hastings, who built out an impressive career over the years, and notices that his old feelings are still as strong and irresistible as before. In all honesty, the more you contemplate about the plot and analyze the events afterwards, the less plausible and realistic "The Secret in their Eyes" becomes. And yet, for once this doesn't matter because you are so moved by the story and feel so much sympathy for the main characters that you'll gladly overlook any flaws that only come to the surface later. Apart from the story and the unique mixture of styles and genres, there are two other aspects that make this film a genuine masterpiece, namely the acting performances and the cinematography. Regarding the acting, being a European I don't know any of the actors and actresses in this film, but they surely all made a big impression on me. The camera work by Félix Monti is stupendous, with various great sequences in which he achieved beautiful effects through reflection (in mirrors or windows) and extended pan-images.