El Secreto De Sus Ojos

El Secreto De Sus Ojos, also known as The Secret In Their Eyes, is a 2009 Argentinean film by Juan José Campanella, based on Eduardo Sacheri's novel La Pregunta de Sus Ojos (The Question in Their Eyes).It won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards, making Argentina the first to win it twice.

Having this be my first Argentinean film I was more than excited. The movie is a crime thriller, something I'm very much into, so I thought I would give it a go. For all of you who have not seen it, I'll give you a quick summary. Spoiler Alert! Benjamin Espósito is seen writing a novel about the Morales case, having been assigned to it years before. He pays a visit to Irene Menéndez-Hastings, his partner on the case, to seek advise on how he should tell the story. She suggests that he begin at the start of the case.

On a quiet morning in June Liliana Colotto is found raped and murdered in her home. (Warning! Nude scene of Liliana's body) Espósito promises the widowed husband, Ricardo, to put his wife's killer to justice.  Aided by alcoholic friend and assistant Pablo Sandoval and the law smart Hastings, they uncover photos of Liliana in her home town of Chivilcoy. All the photos contain a man named Isidoro Gómez looking deeply at Liliana, his eyes never leaving her. Espósito sees this as unresolved lust and believes they are the eyes of an killer. Espósito's suspicion leads him on a journey spanning  years to uncover secrets of the accused killer, the widowed husband, and himself.
The Ending

Espósito, after completing his novel, with help of Hastings finds the widowed husband of Liliana in a rural area of Buenos Aires Province and takes his finished book to him. Apparently, he is no longer obsessed with his wife's murder and has seemingly moved on. Espósito is shocked and reminds him of his promise to get the man who murdered the love of his life. Backed into a corner, the widower reveals that he tracked down Gomez, kidnapped him, and shot him. Espósito leaves with this revelation on his mind. As he is driving back, Espósito begins to wonder about the case and about the widower. This thinking leads him back to a conversation he has with the widower years ago, a conversation about the death penalty. The widower was strong in his belief that the death penalty was wrong and unjust. Espósito is unsure that  a man who believed so strongly against the death penalty could go back on his views and kill a man. Espósito senses that something is not right and heads back to the widower's property. Undetected by Ricardo, Espósito follows him into a small building at the side of the house. Inside is a makeshift cell, where Ricardo has been hiding Gomez for the last few years. Gomez is tried and older looking. He asks if  Espósito could get Ricardo to speak to him, apparently, he has not all these years. Ricardo reminds Benjamin of his promise that Gomez would never go free.
My Review
The film moved a little bit on the slow side for me. I usually like the fast pace murder mysteries but, it was still a decent watch. I didn't really talk about the love connection between Hastings and Espoito, but that was a good twist in the plot. The character were full with emotion and wonderful actors. The scenery was nice to look at, reminding me of some old French city. All in all, it was just a decent film. I read so many good reviews for this movie that after I saw it I became fairly disappointed. I was expecting to be blown away and fall forever in love with Argentine films, but unfortunately this was not the case. I would recommend it to other people with a understanding of films, not someone who gets bored easily or is unable to see past what is in front of his/her face. The plot is about human nature more than just a murder case.
Rating