I often sit down to watch a film with a bottle of red wine and a bar of dark chocolate, hoping that it will be something special. Usually I'm disappointed. Sometimes I am blown away by a truly brilliant film.
The Secret in Their Eyes is a brilliant film. Well deserving its Best Film Not-In-English Oscar.
There are so many subtle things going on at the same time. Watching the subtitles and the actors at the same time is quite an effort at times, but worth it. Both the leads Ricardo Darín and Soledad Villamil are superb; conveying enough to be totally believable without giving the game away too early.
And the film works well because there is so much for us to learn that we can't even imagine at the start. Who is the main character? An author? Oh, maybe, maybe not. Who is this woman he's meeting? How does he know her? And so on. The more we learn the more questions remain unanswered.
Director Juan José Campanella shows us a bit of the story, lets us make assumptions, doesn't correct us straight away... shows us more, lets the penny drop, carries on. You think you have worked it out. Then you are not so sure again.
The story doesn't really twist, it just develops in subtly unpredictable ways. I love that. Nothing feels contrived. You see things and think "Oh, yes, that makes sense."
Lovely film. It was a nice bottle of wine too... and I forgot to eat the chocolate.
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