A long time in the unravelling

Rating: 9/10 (28 June 2010)

The Secret in their Eyes is a tale of undeclared love, laced in a complex murder mystery that spans 25 years. The details are so densely packed that I almost would have nodded off had its beauty and skill in the telling not kept me shocked in wakefulness. It is a story of remembering. And how that act of remembering can change the present. What is that timeless quality that we sometimes see in a person's eyes? A look that can hold maybe more than anything, and how it can arrest our thought as they travel a sea of faces; a torrent of years. If they 'express the inexpressible,' is there a reason that stops the lips from forming the words? And if that barrier could be removed?
Beating such notable competition as Haneke's White Ribbon for the coveted Foreign Language Film Oscar was no small task. That the Secret in Their Eyes fathoms profound emotions (for want of a better word!) perhaps goes some way to explain its appeal.
Benjamín Espósito has been employed by the criminal court all working his life. Now entering retirement, he begins writing a novel. The story will be that of a tragic case he once investigated, the brutal rape and murder of a beautiful woman. The legal system in Argentina is not free of corruption but still a highly developed one. The court secretary, Irene Menéndez Hastings, is Benjamin's immediate superior. He is secretly in love with her, but she is far above his social station and he has no hope of being together with her. As he writes the novel, he goes back over events. Including his unfulfilled relationship with the woman he is still in love with after all this time. A love of justice propels the movie forward but at a pace that accepts some things can take a lifetime. Or a single moment.
The murder case is far from simple, even with Benjamin and Irene's pooled determination. Benjamin looks back on his life seeking meaning. Both in his own relationships and lack of them, and in the small successes (but greater failures) that accompanied the investigation. As he replays his memories will he be able to re-write his future? Or are there things to which his eyes will forever remain closed? Juan José Campanella's two hour film can occasionally seem affected. But as anyone who has visited can confess, that is true of life in Buenos Aires today anyway. It is still the bastion of European manners from a bygone age and The Secret in Their Eyes sometimes feels like a period piece (even though the film is set in 1974 to 2000). The subtleties of gentlemanly flirtation, the delicacies of social interaction, they present a careful, often unhurried formality through which we must finesse our way with perseverance and appreciation of good taste. We delicately unpick the knotted past so that it does not reap problems for our futures. Does the real life we have lead reflect our inner life and turmoils? The other way round? Or are they not connected? Memory is a powerful thing and can knit together more than just our imagination, our hopes, dreams, and insights. There are clues we have maybe failed to acknowledge. Through stupidity or 'blindness.' And what are the secrets? How do we see them as they really are; spot the clues before our eyes? One secret it's cracked is box-office success. The Secrets of Their Eyes is already a blockbuster in Argentina and enjoying huge triumphs at international festivals. It will probably be one of those 'timeless classics,' as they say.