How to Live an Empty Life?

Rating: 9/10 (18 September 2010)

The retired justice officer Benjamín Espósito (Ricardo Darin) decides to write a novel based on the Morales Case of twenty-five years ago and has difficulties to find the right beginning. He visits his former chief Irene Menéndez-Hastings (Soledad Villamil) in the tribunal to show his draft. In the 70's, Benjamín has an unrequited love for his new-hired chief Irene that belongs to an upper-class. Benjamin is assigned to investigate the murder of Liliana Coloto (Carla Quevedo), a beautiful woman recently married with Ricardo Morales (Pablo Rago) that had been brutally raped and murdered. Benjamin and his alcoholic partner Pablo Sandoval (Guillermo Francella) feel touched with the grief of Ricardo and go further in their investigation. Benjamin observes that a man named Isidoro Gómez (Javier Godino) is staring Liliana in many pictures and he becomes the prime-suspect. Meanwhile the tension between Ricardo and Irene increases along the days but Ricardo does not understand the signs of her eyes. Twenty five years later, Ricardo is still haunted by his love for Irene and for the unsatisfactory resolution of the Morales Case.
"El Secreto de Sus Ojos" is a film awarded with the Oscar of Best Foreign Language Film of the Year with a dramatic story that perfectly entwines crime, thriller and a subtle romance in an adequate pace. The direction of Juan José Campanella is tight and the screenplay is wonderful, unfolding two lead stories – the brutal murder of a young woman and the repressed love of a subaltern for his chief – with many subplots. The acting is top-notch, with excellent dialogs and many funny lines but never vulgar. The cinematography and the camera work are magnificent and there is one specific scene very impressive with the camera approaching to the stadium in the middle of a soccer game between Huracán and Racing. My vote is nine.
Title (Brazil): "O Segredo dos Seus Olhos" ("The Secret of Your Eyes")