Starring Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Guillermo Francella, Pablo Rago, Javier Godino
Directed by Juan José Campanella

★★★★

This fine Argentinean film has been topical in various media recently for, aside from being a solid thriller, scooping this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The only reason being, that it was assumed to be a two horse race between A Prophet and The White Ribbon. Personally I think these periodical ‘shocks’ of that specific category are of no significance because so many potential entries have to vie for the one award slot. Furthermore, said disbelief only really seems to occur when the awarded film has not yet even been released in the disbeliever’s own territory.

The film opens as Benjamin (Darín), a recently retired district attorney, is at pains trying to write an opening for his novel. He visualises a number of scenarios each in different styles and settings but all featuring the same couple. When he returns to his former place of work to ask ex-colleague Irene (Villamil) for advice, we learn that the would-be work of fiction is actually based on an unsolved rape and murder case that has haunted him ever since its forced closure 25 years earlier.

As they re-examine the evidence, we witness the full duration of the case as it unfolded through flashbacks and see just how much interfering bureaucracy and political tie-ins were involved.

The Secrets in Their Eyes is an absorbing thriller – part political, part murder mystery – in the vain of the most classic examples of the genre. It is superbly shot with almost very frame adding a new clue or point of view and it makes no bones about the fact that it does so very much in the style of such films 60s and 70s heyday (think lots of office brown, leather chairs and telling close-ups).

There is an excellent overall cast, and characters are suitably well balanced between those with good intentions and those have succumbed to corruption and sleaze but it is the highly flawed and very smart ‘third wheel’ to the two protagonists, Pablo (Francella), who really stands out.

It’s difficult to find a weak point but the one thing that did hold a negative for me is something that always grinds my gears; prosthetic aging. Whilst subtly switching between black and greying hair distinguishes well between Benjamin in real time and Benjamin in flashback, some other characters veer closer to bad Inspector Clouseau disguise rather than credibly showing the years.

Overall, a fine (and award worthy) film.