EL SECRETO DE SUS OJOS (THE SECRET OF HIS EYES)

Argentina, 2009, 129 minutes, Colour.
Ricardo Darin, Soledad Villamil.
Directed by Juan Jose Campanella.

The Secret of His Eyes was Argentina’s nomination for best foreign language Oscar for 2009. It is a strong genre film.

Ricardo Darin, a prolific actor in Argentinean films, plays a legal man who investigated a murder case twenty-five years earlier, decided to write a book about it, goes back to the case and tries to investigate and discover what really happened. Soledad Villamil is the attorney working with him. (In terms of makeup, Darin’s makeup over the twenty-five years marks a strong difference in skin tone and beard while Soledad Villamil remains exactly the same.)

The film recreates a brutal murder, the reaction of the husband of the victim, the tracking down of the alleged killer and his violent reactions. He is also released from jail in an amnesty and moves to work as a thug and gangster. He arranges the assassination of the police inspector’s partner.

The film is interesting in its detail about the police investigation, the work of the lawyers. It also has a twist at the end, an alternate presentation of individual, even vigilante, justice.

1.A strong Argentinean thriller? Police investigation? Its awards?

2.The Buenos Aires setting, the city, in the past, the present? Homes, police precincts, legal offices, the courts? The realistic settings?

3.The countryside, especially during the climax?

4.The structure of the film: the railway station, the inspector going to write his novel, the farewell to Irene? The presentation of the crime, going back into the past, the different encounters? The passing of the twenty-five years? The achievement in writing the book, not solving the case, the final climax and twist, meeting with Irene?

5.The visualising of the crime, its brutality, the victim? The husband and his reaction? The police, arrival, the investigation details, the questions?

6.The inspector in himself, at the opening, his work, wanting to write the book, tantalised by the case, the passing of the decades? His relationship with Irene, the farewell at the station, her pursuing the train? The past, the introduction to Irene, their work? The case, the variety of bosses and supervisors, Pablo and his assistance? Irene and the bond with her?

7.The details of the investigation, Pablo in the office, awkward, following leads? His family (and his being in the inspector’s home, the confrontation with the gangsters, his stance, wrong identification, turning over the photo, his death)? The grief of his wife? The importance of the investigation and the photos, the inspector’s intuition while looking at the photos, the eyes of the killer?

8.The details of the search for the killer, computer work, addresses? His workplace? Landlady? His being on the move? The sports arena, the game, the crowd and the action, the killer, his flight from the police, the chase through the building? His being caught?

9.The interrogation, his arrogance? The inspector asking, Irene, the different commanders? Caught, (**or court?), guilty?

10.The husband, the inspector’s discussions with him, issues of punishment, justice, execution, life sentence? The husband being resigned?

11.The killer being freed, the links with one of the supervisors, the inspector’s confrontation of him? Money, amnesty, hiring killers?

12.The mystery of the murder, the fate of the murderer?

13.The inspector revisiting the case, the book, Irene? Visiting the husband in the countryside, his ageing, the discussions? The inspector stopping, his hunch, going back, finding the murderer, imprisoned? The appeal to be freed? The gun, the shooting?

14.The resolution, the emotional situation, the husband, his executing justice? The inspector and achieving the solution? Irene?