El secreto de sus ojos
(The Secret in Their Eyes)
Directed By: Juan Jose Campanella
Argentina, 2009
A retired legal counselor writes a novel hoping to find closure for one of his past unresolved homocide cases and for his unreciprocated love with his superior--both of which still haunt him decades later.
El secreto de sus ojos/Movie Review
ReplyDeleteEscrito por: Joe Roskos
Juan Jose Campanella’s El secreto de sus ojos is an excellent thriller that incorporates a multitude of different themes that are apparent throughout the movie. Actor Ricardo Darín plays the role of Benjamín Espósito, a retired legal counselor who struggles to find closure from a gruesome murder that he was unable to let go of because of its heinous nature and his emotional attachment to it.
In the beginning the film, we see our main character, Benjamín Espósito, is somewhat haunted by the past because he was unable to bring justice to the murder victim in the Morales case. He contacts his longtime associate, Irene Menéndez Hastings, played by Soledad Villamil, to discuss the old case, for he plans to write a book about it.
The movie transitions into a long flashback where we see the unfolding of events as they occurred during the investigation of the rape and murder of Liliana Colotto. During the long investigation of the murder by Benjamín Espósito and his partner Pablo Sandoval, played by Guillermo Francella, Espósito becomes frustrated by the additional efforts of his rival Romano, who arrests two innocent men in order to wrap up the case. After the release of the two innocent men, it seems that Espósito becomes emotionally tied to the case because it seems that such a case cannot be simply swept underneath the rug by an ambitious rival who is indifferent to justice.
Also, it is interesting to note that Espósito becomes attracted to a beautiful and young, yet engaged Menéndez, for it seems that there is a parallel which one may draw with the murder case, which is the fact that the boyfriend of Liliana Colotto, Ricardo Morales, was never able to truly declare his love to Liliana, which somewhat mirrors the situation between Espósito and Menéndez during the movie.
Furthermore, as the evidence against the elusive suspect Isidoro Gómez begins to mount, a picture of a deranged, if somewhat sadistic man emerges for it is revealed that he was obsessed with his victim. After he is arrested by Espósito and Sandoval, it seems that justice has triumphed, but alas, the vengeful Roman, who is appointed to a new government agency that is responsible for thwarting the plots of “subversives,” orders the release of Gómez and offers him a job for the government.
One cannot ignore the tragedy of a criminal being hired by the government to carry out illegal activities against the people on its behalf, but sadly, such was the state of affairs in Argentina not so long ago. After many years, Espósito wonders what became of Gómez and the widower Morales. Assuming that Gómez is dead, Espósito locates Morales and asks him how he moved on with his life after Gómez was released. Annoyed by Espósito’s curiosity, he avers that he moved on with his life unlike Espósito. However, after he leaves Morales’ house, Espósito suspects that the assertions of Morales are unfounded and he decides to sneak around Morales’ property during nightfall.
Furthermore, Espósito discovers that Gómez was abducted by Morales and imprisoned in a prison cell that Morales had constructed for the explicit purpose of housing Gómez. One may suspect that Morales was warning Espósito when he told him not to dwell on the past, for Morales knew that if he continued to do so, then he would dwell in the same abysmal misery.
In a way, “el secreto de sus ojos” is Gómez’ imprisonment and it is also the confinement of Morales in the past. Overall, the movie asks the question, “What is justice?” and leaves it to the viewer to decide for him or herself.