Review: The Secret in Their Eyes

When The Secret in Their Eyes beat out both A Prophet and Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon at this year's Academy Awards, I figured it was a blip on the radar. Eh, it's some little foreign flick that's probably overrated and has a message they all like and I'll see it and be disappointed. Wouldn't be the first time, like when Departures beat out The Class, Waltz with Bashir, and Der Baader Meinhof Complex in 2008. Now that I've seen the film, and been completely enraptured by it, I need to just admit that I was wrong. The Secret in Their Eyes deserved it and so much more.

The film takes place almost entirely in flashback. Benjamin Esposito is a retired investigator, trying to move on with his life, but unable to do so. He wants to write a book, but can't find the words. His book is about an unsolved case, a brutal rape and murder of a young schoolteacher. A case that has haunted him for more than two decades. Trying to get a handle on it, he pays a visit to his former boss, Irene. It's obvious from the first time they see eachother again that there are unresolved feelings between the two. She helps trigger his memories, and we are transported back to when Ben, Irene, and their alcoholic partner Sandoval became embroiled in the case that defined their careers.

Social disparities come into play, wedging themselves into any possible relationship between Irene and Benjamin. She a lawyer with an Ivy League background; he a more streetwise guy who "barely graduated high school". Social misjustice is a recurring theme throughout, particularly when a rival investigator tries to sweep the murder under the rug by pinning it on two poor immigrants who can't afford to defend themselves.

Director Juan Jose Campanella layers so many different facts into the story that any one of them could be their own film, yet they are all given so much time to develop. He plays with the idea of obsession in all it's myriad forms. Benjamin and his dogged determination to solve this decades old case, along with his unending obsession for Irene. The murdered girl's husband becomes a broken man, obsessed with finding justice at any cost. Irene's obsession with having her feelings validated by Benjamin. Campanella even plays with the idea of memory, and the way we morph it over time to suit our needs and ease our own emotional burdens.

The Secret in Their Eyes owns arguably two of my favorite scenes of the year. One, a revelatory scene in a bar where Sandoval uses his cunning(and familiarity with the bar patrons) to deduce a critical clue about the killer. And another...a tense, seat clenching moment where three people make the longest elevator ride down in history. One of them's a killer, the other two are after him. Only one is prepared to do anything about it.

The ending is a shock, but not in the 'gotcha' sense. It all fits neatly into the wonderful puzzle that had been put together before. Ironically, a movie mostly about memory is one that I'll be sure to remember when it's time to start drawing up those 'Best of...' lists at the end of the year.