The Secret in Their Eyes

(El Secreto de sus ojos)

Director: Juan José Campanella
Argentina 2009
129 minutes
Cert: 16
Academy Award-nominated director Juan José Campanella returns to filmmaking with his first feature since 2004, having spent the last few years directing episodes for such acclaimed television series as Law & Order, 30 Rock and House. Set in his native Argentina, The Secret in Their Eyes is a suspenseful crime drama with a love story at its core.

Newly retired from his career in Argentina's criminal court, Benjamín Espósito (Ricardo Darín) begins writing a novel about a case from his past that continues to haunt him. In 1974, a beautiful young newlywed was raped and murdered in her home while her husband worked at the bank. Espósito was sent to investigate the horrifying crime. Looking at the gaze of a man in photos from the murdered woman's college years, a younger Espósito instinctively feels he has his killer. Tracking down the suspect becomes a personal obsession that draws him and his colleague, the brilliant but unreliable alcoholic Pablo Sandoval (Guillermo Francella), into ever-riskier situations. Beneath all the action is a reflection on justice and the meaning of a life sentence. Pain endures but so, too, does love.

Diana Sanchez, Féile Scannán Idirnáisiúnta Toronto 2009

Winner - Best Foreign Language Film, Academy Awards 2010