The Secret in Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos)`

Let me first confess that I am no expert in movie-making or writing reviews. But the winner of 'Best Foreign Language Film' at the 82nd Academy Awards is simply one of the best movies I have watched till date. Such was "El secreto de sus ojos"'s impact that it completely blew me off when I watched it and the movie kept running in my head for the next two days. As my colleague mentioned, watching El secreto is one of those rare experiences where you continue to stare at the screen even after the credits have started rolling. Simply put, this is story telling at its best.

In El secreto, the director, Campanella, has crafted a crime drama with romantic elements. The movie revolves around the lead pair where the relationship is mutual suppression of love. Ricardo Darin, as Benjamin Esposito, is a justice agent and the charming Soledad Villamil, as Irene Hastings, is his boss who hails from the upper class. With their mannerisms, body language and eyes, all the lead actors perform exceedingly well. Francella deserves a special mention as he plays Sandoval, the mousy character that enlivens an otherwise serious crime drama. The suspense kept me engrossed and by the time the mystery was solved, I was literally gaping at the screen. In one word, this movie is a Masterpiece.

Up until now, I have hardly given away any details about the movie itself. If you are planning to watch this classic, then I would recommend you to read no further as I now intend to talk about particular scenes [read it as 'spoilers'] that stand out in El Secreto. Check out the trailer with english sub-titles below.



So, what is this movie all about?? Now, for a casual viewer, El secreto seems like a good crime drama. But the main plot is the suppressed love between Esposito and Irene. The criminal investigation of rape and murder of Liliana, while running parallel to the main plot, forms the background of their love story. And make no mistake, this movie is really about the eyes (and the secrets within). It is Gomez's eyes in Liliana's albums that leads Esposito to suspect Gomez. And it is Gomez's eyes that Irene catches before inciting and consequently incriminating him. It is the intense look in Morales' eyes at the railway station that convinces Esposito to re-open the case an year later [and Esposito even mentions this to Irene in the very next scene..... yes, the scene where Irene is disappointed with Esposito for him not having responded to her feelings] And the love Esposito and Irene have for each other is all there in the eyes to see. Darin's [playing Esposito] eyes not only express his immense love for Irene, but also the restraint in expressing it [most likely due to the differences in class in society and hierarchy at the workplace]. On the other hand, Irene drops hints about her feelings for Esposito and she does this not only with words, but also with her eyes. As I said, it is all there in the eyes for us to see. In fact, El secreto itself begins with a close up shot of Irene's eyes.

As someone who cannot speak a single word in Spanish, I do not even remotely qualify to comment about the dialogues. I watched El secreto with english sub-titles. But for the sub-titles, I am not sure what I would have made of the movie. Its dialogues are the strength of El secreto. I can only guess that I lost some flavor around dialogues in the translation from Spanish to English. Check out this line from Morales when he says "I don't know if it is a memory.... or a memory of a memory I am left with.".... it is so subtle, yet powerful. It just hits you then and there that this guy's life has "frozen in time". Another set of interesting dialogues feature in the scene where Esposito and Sandoval are censured by the senior judge at the justice office. It doesn't get any more sarcastic than when the judge asks Esposito .... "Es?? Espo?? Esposi???". And one can't miss the innocent looking Sandoval, who is watching all this pretty much like a stranger. Another gem is the scene in a pub where Esposito asks a drunk Sandoval to be his accomplice. What sounds like a soliloquy is actually a blackmail.

Having spoken so much about dialogues, I can tell you that in one of the best scenes in the movie, not even a single word is uttered. It is the one in the elevator. Three people and a loaded gun in a lift is all it takes for Campanella to tacitly convey the fear, the threat and to a larger extent the political situation that Argentina was in, during the seventies. So much silence... yet so many things conveyed!!!

And yeah.... the long shot that runs for a full five minutes is really amazing if you wonder how it was accomplished. What starts off with a bird's eye view of a football stadium, later zooms into the crowd and narrows down on Esposito. This follows a hand-held camera movement where Gomez is chased, run down by a footballer and nabbed by the police.... all this in a single shot. Brilliant!!!

I guess it all depends how each scene is written and envisioned.... including how a character reacts... what element is highlighted.. and even the sequence of events. As a writer and director, Campanella has crafted El secreto very well and all the subtle mannerisms and dialogues have taken the movie to an altogether new level. To me, there were two scenes that were a little graphic. The first one is where Liliana's physically abused deadbody is shown. And the second one is a close up shot in the scene where Irene instigates Gomez in the court to incriminate him. I feel both the scenes could have done away with the graphic shots. Coming back to the positives, the movie excels in the departments of screenplay, dialogues, acting, cinematography and background music. And in the climax, justice prevails and love triumphs over fear.

Of all the movies that contested at the 82nd Academy awards, I have watched only three as of this writing. The first one I watched was 'Avatar' (in 3D of course). 'El Secreto de sus ojos' was the second and 'The Hurt Locker' was the third. To me, 'El secreto' was the most entertaining and complete movie among the three. I would rate it better than Avatar and The Hurt Locker. I know "It's complicated" to compare the three movies because I am not comparing apples with apples. But, like Esposito says towards the end, "I don't care".... whatever they may be, they are all movies after all.