Law and Order in Buenos Aires

The Secret in Their Eyes

***1/2 out of ****

Directed by: Juan Jose Campanella

Starring: Ricardo Darin, Soledad Villamil, Guillermo Francella and Pablo Rago

Running time: 127 minutes

There’s a sequence halfway through The Secret in Their Eyes, an Argentine feature that recently won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, that’s so mesmerizing even people only halfway-serious about film will be talking about it for years.

It’s an enthralling pursuit through a jam-packed soccer stadium to catch a suspected criminal. The inspectors chase the man from the overflowing stands through a maze of hollow corridors and then onto the field itself.

Filmed to look like one prolonged shot - interviews with the director have revealed that the sequence was composed of a few shots seamlessly edited together - the set-piece is astounding.

It’s the stylized highlight of a very orderly and very good crime thriller from Juan Jose Campanella, a celebrated director whose work ranges from compelling foreign fare to several Law and Order: SVU episodes.

Campanella’s background with the latter crime procedural proved to be good practice, as his newest film plays like an extended episode of Law and Order plus better cinematography, meatier characterization and a snappier script.

The Oscar-winning film tells the story of Benjamin Esposito (Ricardo Darin), a retired criminal court investigator who’s trying to pen an original novel. The content of his to-be masterwork revolves around a macabre murder case from 25 years earlier – one that still haunts him.

He tells Irene (Soledad Villamil), a beautiful former colleague who worked with him on the case, that he’s not entirely convinced with the results of that investigation.

The central crime revolved around a young Buenos Aires woman named Morales who was raped and murdered by an unknown assailant.

Campanella uses his protagonist’s work-in-progress novel as a framing device to flash back to 1970s Argentina, to follow Esposito as he tracks down the criminal and falls for Irene, and then to return to the present day as he cleans up some loose ends.

The Secret in Their Eyes isn’t just an absorbing crime thriller, but a film that adheres as much to its protagonist’s personal desires as it does to the central mystery. As intrigued as we are with the case at hand, we are just as interested in the path of Benjamin’s relationship with Irene.

The film also evokes Roman Polanski’s Chinatown with its complex characters, compelling mystery and conflicts involving a corrupt political bureaucracy.

As Benjamin, Ricardo Darin brings a wry, gentle approach that is as far from a machismo detective portrayal as one could expect. This style ensures that we can believe the love story elements – he does share much spicy chemistry with co-star Soledad Villamil, who is also excellent.

Strong performances also come from Guillermo Francella as Benjamin’s charming if over-intoxicated right-hand man and Pablo Rago in a haunting turn as the disturbed husband of the murder victim.

The film is sensual, alluring and rich with characterization, a rarity that manages to balance the romantic disposition with the dense plot exposition that usually comes with detective stories.

With its thrilling procedural elements alongside a satisfying love story, it’s no secret as to why the Academy was charmed by The Secret in Their Eyes.