The Secrets in Their Eyes/ El secreto de sus ojos (2009) film review

The Secrets in Their Eyes/ El secreto de sus ojos (2009) film review by Lukas Agelastos.

    Juan José Campanella's film is set in 1974. It is about a male legal counsellor (Ricardo Darín) and his female supervisor, a law clerk (Soledad Villamil), as they examine a rape and assassination case, while also following the protagonists 25 years later as they remember the case and uncover the concealed passion between them.

    While I usually make a point of discussing politics, there is too much of Argentine political backstory here about the aftermath of the 1976-83 military dictatorship, a time of ferocious political violence known as the Dirty War, which I am not sufficiently acquainted with and which has already been amply discussed elsewhere, such as David Hanley's 2016 essay in OffScreen. Also, according to The Guardian's Ben Bollig's 2010 article, for example, the film is an "attempt to cope with Argentina's past of unsolved crime during the dictatorship in the 1970s" and it "allows viewers a comforting distance from the crimes of the 1970s and early 80s." 

    In this article, I will focus on the cinematic aspects that make this one of the best crime dramas and as well as one of the best Argentinian films of the new millennium.

    On the surface, a first glance reminds the viewer slightly of David Fincher's Se7en (1995), at least in terms of its feeling and texture. Secrets is less complicated in its handling of the criminal case but goes deeper when it comes to character development. Indeed, the three main characters are a joy to watch. Their interactions are full of witty humour, well-observed behaviours with a light touch of flirting and an undercurrent of romance. The way the clerk Pablo Sandoval lies on his phone and invariably names his office as “sperm bank, loan department” or “blood bank” to avoid work, is one of the best developed, funny secondary storylines I have seen which had me in stitches even long after the end titles. 

    The film also features one of the most astonishing single takes (initially a CGI animation), when a helicopter ride over a football stadium develops into a close-up of the protagonists on the spectator stands, then into a chase in the stadium’s toilets and finally follows the fugitive onto the pitch.

    The script is very clever because its narrative works on at least two different levels. One of them is the contemporary narration of the retired legal counsellor who writes his first novel about the one case of his career he can’t forget, the other is the narration of events that took place during the period of that case. Sometimes, we aren’t sure whether events took place in reality or in the novel. One of the supporting characters comments on this, saying that it is best to remember all the good memories and to forget the bad ones.

Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil and Juan José Campanella on the set of Secrets

    The takeaways for me as a director have to do with how well the characters are developed, how real, well-observed and funny their interactions are, how good the dialogue is and how it never overwhelms you with backstory information unnecessarily. While the visuals are sometimes very extravagant, they never distract from the narrative. 

The world of the story is extremely well developed, giving us a glimpse into the day-to-day life of public servants in this time of turmoil.

On the surface, this is a classic crime story, but in its execution, the director effortlessly blends different genres into one single tale. It is also part comedy, part political and part romantic drama.

It is also an ode to the Power of Love (cue Marty MacFly on a skateboard on his way to school in this completely unrelated tangent), both for the one who loses his love forever and stoically waits until he can get revenge and for the one whose love remains unfulfilled for 25 years.

The whole cast delivers stellar performances, and even though Ricardo Darín is as good as ever, for me particularly Soledad Villamil stands out in her role as confident, feminine assistant to the judge, to which Darín plays her counsellor.

Must-watch. 

Available on Cinobo in Greece & Cyprus, and Amazon Prime Video worldwide