Wonderful performances by the three main characters, beautiful cinematography, and a haunting story that stuck with me for days afterwards: this is what I took away from this film. The narrative had me gasping, crying, and retreating from the screen in all the right moments. One horrific crime scene established a cursed, and sometimes even, a blessed life for the characters, showing us these effects over the course of 25 years.
Interwoven with flashbacks, full of life-altering decisions, and centered around one man's desire to obtain justice for the rape and death of an Argentinean woman, Los Secretos de Sus Ojos is a romantic drama pervaded with mystery, desire, obsession, and most significantly, love.
It is love that begins this story, and it is obsession and desire that brings an end to such a beautiful start.
The story takes place in today's Argentina with flashbacks to the country plunging towards dictatorship in the 1970s. This political turmoil is only hinted at in various sequences in the film, and significance of the dead woman becomes known almost at once.
The main character, Benjamin, played by Ricardo Darín, is first introduced as a man facing writer's block. The first scene begins with him writing his words down on a piece of paper, describing moments to us as the film itself plays out his words with him.
We see a woman and a man at a train station, giving each other a bittersweet farewell. With Benjamin's words, we know this is a lover's meeting, and with the various close-ups on the character's face, we see their anguish.
And then we see and hear the first words of the film: "He ran to the end of the train and watched as her figure, once gigantic, now shrank in his eyes, but grew more than ever in his heart."
The story abruptly ends as Benjamin crumples up the page.
He tries once more.
Two lovers, but this time, two different people. A man and his wife eating breakfast together. Benjamin tells us the wife is making tea to soothe her husband's sore throat, and it will be his last time every tasting her jam. The sunlight hits her cheek, almost as bright as her smile...
Benjamin crumples up the page and grunts in frustration.
Then...his eyes close...
We catch a disturbing scene of a violent rape. Unable to see their faces, we cannot be sure of who these two people are, but it is clear that this is what will be central to the entire narrative.
Benjamin opens his eyes, and it begins.
Within minutes, we revisit Benjamin's past when we enter the office of the character Irene, played by Soledad Villamil. It is learned that she and Benjamin were once colleagues, working together to solve the mystery of the rape and homicide case. In flashbacks, we see a much younger Irene, desired by Benjamin and his alcoholic, yet endearing partner, Sandoval, played by Guillermo Francella.
Without having to say why, Benjamin tells Irene of his desire to write a novel on the case, and this is when we are presented with more and more flashbacks, giving us every detail of how and why this beautiful, mysterious woman was raped and murdered. We are told of her name: Liliana Coloto.
After visiting the crime scene, Benjamin becomes obsessed with finding the murderer. He, Irene, and Sandoval are forced to face 1.) a justice system that favors the rich over the poor 2.) their authoritative boss, and 3.) a prejudiced judge. Together, the three work to find the true culprit of this crime, and in doing so, all form an unbreakable bond.
Provided with photo albums from the dead woman's husband (Ricardo Morales), Benjamin focuses on the (what I find the best way to describe him) creepiest man alive. He is staring at Liliana, with a look that can only suggest obsession and desire.
In the present, Benjamin tells Irene about looking at the pictures. He admits that he knew right away Gomez was the killer. He tells Irene, "Los ojos hablan." "The eyes speak." And it is here where we first catch a moment of intimacy between these two characters. The eyes truly do hablan.
The film continues with periodical flashbacks that show the characters fighting through the clouds of mystery to find justice for Morales, who is forever heartbroken over the death of his wife. In what will be a significant line to note, Morales, when talking of the death penalty, says that he is not in favor of it. He wishes for Gomez to live a long, full, life, forever regretting the day that he murdered Liliana. Death is not good, or in Morales' opinion, bad enough for such an awful crime.
The director and writer, Juan Jose Campanella, is truly an artist. Various shots, particularly the continuous five-minute chase scene at the soccer stadium, had me in awe. Not only was the atmosphere chaotic and hard to follow, but he had a way of focusing on the right spots at the right times, without one edit in the scene. It was magic.
The performances by the three main characters are delightful, and the scenes between Benjamin and Irene are particularly beautiful. In the flashbacks, we see hesitation and fear, and in the present, we see regret and love. "Temo" versus "Te amo." "I fear" versus "I love you" (another brilliant scene in the movie.) You will know what I am talking about once you see it!
Campanella is a master at creating suspense and tension, but he is also highly talented at bringing in comical scenes at the right time. It is mostly the character Sandoval that brings this lightheartedness to the film, what with his drunken stupor and beaming charisma, but we learn to love him more for his desire for justice and his loyalty to friends. He was undoubtedly my favorite character in the film.
Los Secretos de Sus Ojos is a must-see, and while there were some minor disappointments, such as the disappearance of a climatic capture of the ultimate bad guy, it still touched my heart in a way that not many other films have. My rating of "YAHT" would, on the normal scale, come out to be three stars.
Some may find the story slow and hard to stay focused on, but once one notes the brilliance of the performances and the use of cinematography in the film, it is quite hard to stay bored.
One will find themselves haunted by the dead girl in the story but will soon find out that it was from this death that love and justice found a way to prevail in a country full of political strife and violence.
The story takes place in today's Argentina with flashbacks to the country plunging towards dictatorship in the 1970s. This political turmoil is only hinted at in various sequences in the film, and significance of the dead woman becomes known almost at once.
The main character, Benjamin, played by Ricardo Darín, is first introduced as a man facing writer's block. The first scene begins with him writing his words down on a piece of paper, describing moments to us as the film itself plays out his words with him.
We see a woman and a man at a train station, giving each other a bittersweet farewell. With Benjamin's words, we know this is a lover's meeting, and with the various close-ups on the character's face, we see their anguish.
And then we see and hear the first words of the film: "He ran to the end of the train and watched as her figure, once gigantic, now shrank in his eyes, but grew more than ever in his heart."
The story abruptly ends as Benjamin crumples up the page.
He tries once more.
Two lovers, but this time, two different people. A man and his wife eating breakfast together. Benjamin tells us the wife is making tea to soothe her husband's sore throat, and it will be his last time every tasting her jam. The sunlight hits her cheek, almost as bright as her smile...
Benjamin crumples up the page and grunts in frustration.
Then...his eyes close...
We catch a disturbing scene of a violent rape. Unable to see their faces, we cannot be sure of who these two people are, but it is clear that this is what will be central to the entire narrative.
Benjamin opens his eyes, and it begins.
Within minutes, we revisit Benjamin's past when we enter the office of the character Irene, played by Soledad Villamil. It is learned that she and Benjamin were once colleagues, working together to solve the mystery of the rape and homicide case. In flashbacks, we see a much younger Irene, desired by Benjamin and his alcoholic, yet endearing partner, Sandoval, played by Guillermo Francella.
Without having to say why, Benjamin tells Irene of his desire to write a novel on the case, and this is when we are presented with more and more flashbacks, giving us every detail of how and why this beautiful, mysterious woman was raped and murdered. We are told of her name: Liliana Coloto.
After visiting the crime scene, Benjamin becomes obsessed with finding the murderer. He, Irene, and Sandoval are forced to face 1.) a justice system that favors the rich over the poor 2.) their authoritative boss, and 3.) a prejudiced judge. Together, the three work to find the true culprit of this crime, and in doing so, all form an unbreakable bond.
Provided with photo albums from the dead woman's husband (Ricardo Morales), Benjamin focuses on the (what I find the best way to describe him) creepiest man alive. He is staring at Liliana, with a look that can only suggest obsession and desire.
In the present, Benjamin tells Irene about looking at the pictures. He admits that he knew right away Gomez was the killer. He tells Irene, "Los ojos hablan." "The eyes speak." And it is here where we first catch a moment of intimacy between these two characters. The eyes truly do hablan.
The film continues with periodical flashbacks that show the characters fighting through the clouds of mystery to find justice for Morales, who is forever heartbroken over the death of his wife. In what will be a significant line to note, Morales, when talking of the death penalty, says that he is not in favor of it. He wishes for Gomez to live a long, full, life, forever regretting the day that he murdered Liliana. Death is not good, or in Morales' opinion, bad enough for such an awful crime.
The director and writer, Juan Jose Campanella, is truly an artist. Various shots, particularly the continuous five-minute chase scene at the soccer stadium, had me in awe. Not only was the atmosphere chaotic and hard to follow, but he had a way of focusing on the right spots at the right times, without one edit in the scene. It was magic.
The performances by the three main characters are delightful, and the scenes between Benjamin and Irene are particularly beautiful. In the flashbacks, we see hesitation and fear, and in the present, we see regret and love. "Temo" versus "Te amo." "I fear" versus "I love you" (another brilliant scene in the movie.) You will know what I am talking about once you see it!
Campanella is a master at creating suspense and tension, but he is also highly talented at bringing in comical scenes at the right time. It is mostly the character Sandoval that brings this lightheartedness to the film, what with his drunken stupor and beaming charisma, but we learn to love him more for his desire for justice and his loyalty to friends. He was undoubtedly my favorite character in the film.
Los Secretos de Sus Ojos is a must-see, and while there were some minor disappointments, such as the disappearance of a climatic capture of the ultimate bad guy, it still touched my heart in a way that not many other films have. My rating of "YAHT" would, on the normal scale, come out to be three stars.
Some may find the story slow and hard to stay focused on, but once one notes the brilliance of the performances and the use of cinematography in the film, it is quite hard to stay bored.
One will find themselves haunted by the dead girl in the story but will soon find out that it was from this death that love and justice found a way to prevail in a country full of political strife and violence.
