The Secret in Their Eyes

The Secret in Their Eyes is the most recent winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and is playing now in the U.S. in art-houses. But aside from the fact that it is from Argentina and in Spanish, their is nothing exotic about it--it's firmly set in the idioms of the Hollywood mystery/thriller. The director, Juan José Campanella, has extensive credits in U.S. television dramas, and while the film is too good to be relegated to TV stuff, it certainly doesn't stretch the boundaries of cinema.

I mention that only because the film beat The White Ribbon, a dense, complicated film that may be remembered years from now while The Secret in Their Eyes is not. But having said that, I must say that I can understand the vote. The White Ribbon challenges the viewer in profound and disturbing ways, while The Secret in Their Eyes is an old-fashioned good time at the movies.

The film, set about ten years ago, exists in two planes--the present-day and a flashback to events about twenty-five years earlier. An investigator (unfamiliar with the Argentine justice system, I was never quite sure what his job was--he's not a cop, nor a lawyer, but he works for a judge) Ricardo Darin is in retirement and working on a novel. He is haunted by a case of a young woman who is brutally raped and beaten to death. Teaming with his regally beautifully superior, with whom he is secretly in love, (Soledad Villamil) and his alcoholic but charming colleague (Guillermo Francella) Darin has a suspect, but he is missing. Finally they catch him, but there's a twist or two. To reveal more would spoil the fun.

Campanella deals with crime-procedural cliches, but in such a gifted manner that we can overlook them. For one thing the characters, particularly the three principles, are expertly etched. Darin (if this film were remade in America the part would have to be played by Joe Mantegna) is a particularly good character, a man who is unable to let go of both the murder and his affection for a woman he let get away. For comic relief there is Francella, who manages to be both amusing (he frequently answers the office phone with wise-guy responses, like "Sperm bank, are you a donor or a recipient?") and bathetic, as he is frequently found in a dive bar. The interaction between all the characters is sparklingly written (a scene in which Darin and Francella break in to the suspect's mother's house is dandy) and emotionally powerful.

But they are still cliches. Only in retrospect does one realize that the only clue that Darin uses to finger the suspect is extremely far-fetched (and earns the film its title). There is also a scene of whopping coincidence at a soccer match, but it so well shot and edited that it's easy to let it slide.

The film is based on a novel, and that shows in both good ways and bad. The ending reminded me of the ending of a Matthew Scudder novel by Lawrence Block (not sure which one came first) that is a bit unusual in that plays it deliberately and thoughtfully, without action. I also liked that the characters age without ridiculous makeup (Darin is first introduced as an older man, and when I then saw him younger I was surprised).

The Best Foreign Language winner is often an embarrassment, but not this year. The Secret in Their Eyes is a foreign film, but uses the language of Hollywood, and there's nothing wrong with that.