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A Detective Film At Its Finest?
 Radheyan Simonpillai - AskMen.com
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April 17, 2010
Why did Argentina's The Secret In Their Eyes beat out A Prophet and The White Ribbon for Best Foreign Language Film?
What’s the big deal about this unseen Argentinean movie that won Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards? The Secret In Their Eyes certainly has mass appeal. It’s the story of Benjamin (Ricardo Darin), a retired criminal court investigator who decides to write a novel about those aspects of his life that bog him down. There was the unresolved rape and murder of a young, pretty woman, whose husband still wanders the earth like it's purgatory. There was Benjamin’s old unrequited flame Irene (Soledad Villamil) who just happened to be his superior at work. It’s a detective story, an aged romance and even a sociopolitical commentary in one neat award-winning package.
It’s no secret why this movie beat nominees like A Prophet and The White Ribbon at the Oscars, and it’s not because of artistic superiority. With a story about an old fart seeking resolution and love in the twilight of his life, The Secret In Their Eyes caters to the over-the-hill crowd that dominates the Academy -- the same group that makes the Foreign Film Category a joke.
It’s still a capable and even entertaining piece of fiction that shows a lot of promise in its first half. When we meet Benjamin, he sits in his apartment sifting through memories that flash by without any chronological order. Benjamin writes his novel to make sense out of these haunting memories, laying them out into a narrative. The construction makes for an interesting anecdote on the act of filmmaking.
Unfortunately, the film isn’t consistent with such thematic devices. Soon enough we’re watching a typical whodunit unfold with flashy chase scenes, an overburdened revenge drama and that geriatric romance made from withering memories. Scene for scene it’s mostly good stuff but taken all together it’s like going cross-eyed.
Propelling the movie forward is the often witty and comical screenplay, which takes great pleasure in the frustrated romance between Benjamin and Irene. The two stars make the most of it, cooking up some scintillating chemistry even if they’re looking forward to a night of Viagra. And, yes much of the passion can be seen in their beautiful orbs.
As for the murder investigation, it’s a pressure cooker at first but soon that intensity deflates like a popped balloon. It’s just too outrageous. The main suspect is arrived at because of the way he looks in a picture and his prosecution is based on an imbecilic interrogation more suited to an episode of Cold Case.
It makes you wonder whether the movie is a critique of the Argentinean justice system. It actually is, but not for the same reasons we’re thinking. |
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