Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Disc:

Video:

Audio:

• Commentary with Juan José Campanella (Spanish with English subtitles)

• Behind the Scenes of The Secret in Their Eyes (4:12)

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Description: The Secret in Their Eyes, the gripping mystery romance that won this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and was Argentina’s most popular domestic film in three decades, arrives on Blu-ray and DVD September 21 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The critically lauded cast is headed by Ricardo Darin as a man obsessed with a murder case that’s gone unsolved for 30 years. He’s joined by co-stars Soledad Villamil, Pablo Rago, Javier Godino and Guillermo Francella. Juan José Campanella (Son of the Bride) directed the Sony Pictures Classic release.

The Secret in Their Eyes garnered 13 awards from the Argentinean Motion Picture Academy, including Best Film, as well as nine prestigious Argentinean Clarin Awards, including Best Film and Best Director. A consistent winner and crowd pleaser at international festivals, the film was especially honored in Spain, where it received multiple Goya Awards and nominations, including Best Foreign Language film, as well as four CEC awards from Spain’s Cinema Writers Circle, for Best Actress (Villamil), Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Francella), plus four nominations, including Best Film.

Synopsis:
Recently retired criminal court investigator Benjamin (Ricardo Darin) decides to write a novel based on a 25-year-old unresolved rape and murder case which still haunts him. Benjamin shares his plans with Irene (Soledad Villamil), the beautiful judge and former colleague he has secretly been in love with for years. Benjamin’s initial involvement with the case is shown through flashbacks, following his efforts to identify the murderer. But as the mystery of the heinous crime continues to unfold in the present, his search for the truth will put him at the center of a judicial nightmare and will test the limits of a man seeking justice and personal fulfillment at last.

 

 

Mr. Campanella’s eclectic résumé includes several films made in his native country (“Son of the Bride,” a comedy) and numerous directing gigs for American television shows, including the “Law & Order” franchise. Although he executes some flashy moves in “The Secret in Their Eyes,” routinely calling attention to the camera — as in an aerial shot of a stadium in which the camera appears to descend seamlessly into the roaring crowd before chasing after a single character — it’s the performances that stick with you, along with Sandoval’s booze-soaked melancholia, an occasional scripted eccentricity and the chaos of the increasingly impotent justice system. The scenes between Mr. Darín and Ms. Villamil aren’t subtle (their eyes aren’t especially secretive), but they appealingly convey the warmth of habit and heat of regret.

The intimacy between Benjamin and Irene is lightly handled, as are several comic scenes — including a funny exchange during which Benjamin and Salvador’s amateur sleuthing comes under mocking attack — which show Mr. Campanella at his most nimble. (That adroitness helped the film win this year’s Academy Award for best foreign-language picture.) Less persuasive is his use of the military dictatorship, which takes on ugly human form primarily in the characters of a violent criminal and a bureaucrat who facilitates his brutality. The scenes with these thugs are blunt and effective: the creep-out factor is high. But they also frame the dictatorship in terms of individual pathologies, with little evident politics to make anyone feel uncomfortable as the memories of murder are inevitably turned into smiles.

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Audio :

Extras :

I enjoyed the Spanish language commentary by director Juan José Campanella. He covers a lot of 'inside information' on the production and transposition of the story to the screen. There are, well rendered, optional English subtitles for the commentary - sample:

Beyond that are two standard featurettes on production - less than 5-minutes for 'Behind the Scenes of The Secret in Their Eyes' with a few of the principles and 10-minutes on 'Casting The Secret in Their Eyes' which appear to be just some screen tests. Neither are vital or can approach the value of the commentary. Lastly, there is a 1:22 theatrical trailer in HD.

BOTTOM LINE:
For those that like a good mystery this is an excellent film - a crime-based story that develops as unrequited as the underwritten love story buried inside. It's deliberately paced to reveal details proportionally to the methodically placed climax. The graphic violence is kept at a minimum - necessary for the storytelling but not at all exploitive. Director Campanella impresses with a style that never overtakes the narrative concerns - like much of the thriller/suspense attributes - it also remains... restrained. This is a feature lost in its, heavy-handed, Hollywood counterparts. My only niggling complaint was I felt circumstances were a bit contrived at times - but The Secret in Their Eyes is extremely worthy of its lauded, award-winning, status. I had a very enjoyable time and the Blu-ray offers a superb presentation - one we can strongly recommend. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.