NEW Secret In Their Eyes (DVD)

Benjamin Esposito (Ricardo Darín), a retired detective in Buenos Aires, is haunted by a shocking murder case he worked on twenty-five years ago. He decides to write a novel about it and returns to his old office to enlist the help of his former partner, a perpetually drunk but true-blue friend (Guillermo Francella), and his boss (Irene Menéndez Hastings), a beautiful woman he has secretly loved all this time.

This outstanding film won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The script is extremely clever, mixing equally-compelling stories of crime and love. There are frequent flashbacks so we feel we really become involved in the case and know and care about the three main characters. The grizzly crime is thankfully seen only for a few fleeting moments but its horror keeps the story exciting and moving at a fast pace. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

The actors are all outstanding, so good I never felt they were acting. The entire film is riveting, the dialogue is realistic, and there is a great "what would you do?" ending. Heartily recommended for those who enjoy crime stories with twists and turns with occasional comic bits plus a bittersweet, unrequited love story.

This film is set in 1999 and Benjamin Eposito (Ricardo Darin) is a retired federal prosecutor a bit like a District Attorney in America. He has nothing to do since love has slipped through his fingers and he appears to have been married to the job. So finds himself with time and the past on his mind.

He therefore decides to write a book about an old case - `The Morales Case', this involved the brutal murder of a newly wed to her banker husband, Ricardo Morales (Pablo Rago). This takes him back to the events of 1974 when the terrible crime took place. His department were none too enthusiastic in prosecuting the case and instead set up some itinerant builders as they were considered to be trash, and beat confessions out of them. Eposito has other ideas; he has been touched by the love he sees in the eyes of the husband and moved by her effortless beauty. He has a thing about seeing behind someone's eyes and this is a central theme to the whole film, hence the title.

After his boss knocks him back he enlists the help of his drunken assistant, who despite his frailties is very loyal and intuitive and has a penchant for telling lies on the phone (even claims to be a sperm bank at one point). The story is told in flash back using his now reblossoming feelings for his ex colleague Irene Hastings (Soledad Villamil); he rediscovers more about himself as part of the process and her too. At one point the question is poised `how do you live a life full of nothing?' That too can be seen as central to the film as people fill their lives with the things that aren't important, more or less as coping stratagems for survival and realise their folly too late.

This is not an action packed film, but it is paced and full of intrigue, all of the performances are excellent, the framing of all of the shots has been done with an artist's eye for inclusion of feeling - whether it be humour, intrigue or pathos.

The direction from Juan Jose Campenella is superb, the period detail is excellent too especially the cars and fashions and it had me gripped from the start, there are not plot twists but revelations that keep you guessing for the whole film and I got it almost completely wrong. It is in Spanish with good subtitles and a run time of 102 minutes and I think would be an admirable addition to anyone's collection of seriously good world cinema.

i just love this movie it draws you in to the soul of the people that you'd think you'er living their lives.but the best part is the ending i had this feeling that's what it was...i will leave at that.