Foreign language films are not really my thing. I find that
focusing too much on reading subtitles distracts me from actually watching and
enjoying the film (Hindi films are the exception because I actually understand
the language to the point that I don’t need subtitles). Of course, this
aversion means I sometimes miss out on absolute gems, like the 2009 Academy-award
winning Argentine crime drama, The Secret in Their Eyes. However, given that
this was a mystery/ thriller and had rave reviews on IMDB (not always what I go
by!), I was intrigued enough to want to watch it.
What first drew me in were the lead actors, and how
ridiculously good they were in portraying their characters. I think the fact
that I had no clue who they were, also helped. I was not watching Ricardo Darin
and Soledad Villamil performing on screen – I was watching Benjamin Esposito
and his boss Irene (might I add, the most beautiful pronunciation of the name
imaginable) working to solve a brutal murder and falling painfully in love with
each other in the process.
The murder scene is shown early on, with very little build
up and hit me right in the gut with its matter of fact brutality. This is
something that is not usual in Hollywood or Bollywood movies, which generally
rely on creating atmospheric tension to deliberately shock audiences out of
their comfort zones. The director of this film, on the other hand, makes no
special effort to dramatize anything (there is no background music for most of
the film) – one minute, you are drinking coffee and eating doughnuts, the next
you are witnessing the mutilated naked body of a murdered woman and then right
after you go back to your coffee and doughnuts. It is surreal and real at the
same time, a bit like real life, you know? Disturbing, no doubt, but you cannot
afford to dwell on it, because life just goes on.
It is an old photograph that draws Esposito’s attention in a
new direction, and for some strange reason this gave me vibes of an Agatha
Christie masterpiece, “Five Little Pigs”. For a wild moment the thought popped
into my head that perhaps that was where this film was going…but no, the plot
is far less convoluted than that.
The take in this film is that each of us has one great
passion in life…the thing that drives us, and what we keep coming back to, no
matter what. It could easily have become melodramatic slush, but it doesn’t –
in fact, what this passion is, for each of the characters, remains beautifully
ambiguous – it is not necessarily what we, or even the character, perhaps, may
think it is.
Gomez’s passion, for instance, could very well be either football or Liliana. If, as Esposito’s assistant Sandoval claims, it is football that he cannot help returning to, despite changing everything else about his life – then what drives him to kill Liliana? Could it be that he has two passions?
But no, that would make for a very inconsistent film…and
this film is consistent, if anything. For Ricardo, on the other hand, it is
very clearly established that his passion is Liliana – 25 years after the
murder of his wife, he is still unable to let her go.
And for Esposito?
While primarily a crime drama, the chemistry between
Esposito and Irene is just magnetic, on par with some of the iconic romantic
pairings seen on screen. Though the romance never overtakes the mystery, it does
form the backbone of the story, so to speak, upon which characters are shaped,
choices made, and emotions felt.
Esposito is such a likable person, and I feel this is as
much to do with the writing of the character as with the innate charm of the
actor himself. You simply cannot help but fall in love with him, and wonder
what in the world Irene sees in the hapless Alfonso (who thankfully remains
off-screen). On the face of it, Irene is leagues ahead – she is stunningly
beautiful, poised and eloquent while he is average-looking and socially
awkward. He is at least 10 years her senior. She is also his boss. I love how
bold the film is, casting a male hero who is obviously so much older and
physically less attractive than his female counterpart (I am referring to the
characters here, not the actors themselves) – and then making it so you
actually root for him to succeed. In lesser hands, Esposito would have come
across as a creep. But it is the simplicity and sincerity of their mutual love
and respect for each other, devoid of any pretentious play-acting, that make us
feel like they belong together.
So what is Esposito’s passion? Is it Irene?
Or is it the case? Just like Ricardo Morales, even 25 years
later the case continues to haunt Esposito. He starts writing a book on it, but
ironically, the first thing that comes to his mind when reminiscing is not the
case itself but his relationship with Irene. The case matters so much because
it is a reflection of their bond, and how it evolved through their interaction
over the case.
It is this theme of passion that is the key to the entire mystery.
Esposito starts off in fear – not of the case itself, but of what it would cost
him to revisit it – and ends up fearlessly admitting (and, one hopes,
professing) his love for Irene. Interestingly, it is “closing” the case which
ultimately gives him the closure to do so, which means that by the end of the
movie, the case has taken on an almost MacGuffin-like quality, being the
catalyst that allows both Esposito and Irene to comes to terms with a reality they
have been denying themselves for 25 years.
Can I sidetrack for a minute to remark on the stunning hair
and makeup on the lead characters, aging them so believably? In real life, both
Darin and Villamil have an age gap of 12 years, similar to how they are
portrayed on screen, and seem to be around midway between the ages of their
younger and older characters. At the time of the movie Darin was 52, while the
younger Esposito may have been 40 and the older, newly retired Esposito around
65. Villamil was 40 during the movie, while the younger Irene may have been 30
and the older Irene around 55. Not only is this super attention-to-detail
casting, but it is extremely challenging to convincingly age someone from 30 to
55 – especially a woman – since the physical changes between those years tend
be definitive but subtle – a certain hardness to the features, changes in skin
texture. Merely adding a grey wig and some wrinkles isn’t going to cut it.
Select a 40-year-old actress and this becomes even more difficult, since most
women at that age are essentially timeless – they could as easily pass for 30
as for 50.
Getting back to the plot. Once we establish that Esposito’s
passion is Irene, this leads us to even stranger conclusions. What of the eerie
similarity between the photographs of Gomez staring at Liliana and Esposito
staring at Irene? Why even show them unless there is some meaning, some purpose
to this parallel? Clearly, Gomez is as obsessed with Liliana as Esposito is
with Irene.
As the movie progressed, I knew that clearly, there had to
be something beyond the obvious being shown to us on screen. Strains of
unreliable narrative tease us throughout the screenplay, and while the climax
at face value is twisted enough in itself, it begs the question – given that
Gomez and Liliana were already having an affair (and the movie never
tries to convince us otherwise) – why would he kill her?
On the other hand, remember, that Liliana is also the object
of Ricardo’s obsession. This movie is all about the parallels between seemingly
unlikely events, emotions and people. Just as we are shown the parallels
between Esposito and Gomez, we are also shown the parallels between Esposito and
Ricardo. They are kindred spirits, sharing the deep soul connection of years
upon years of unrequited love, helpless to do anything else but watch the
object of their passion in the arms of another. While Esposito throws all his
energy and emotion into the case and Gomez finds solace in football, Ricardo is
never really given an outlet for his all-consuming passion.
Could it be that the flash of epiphany Esposito has in the
car is, in fact, the truth? That Ricardo kills the woman he loves as an act of mercy,
and then gives Gomez what to him is the ultimate punishment – that of silent,
solitary confinement for the rest of his life?
I read several reviews and “ending explained” articles
subsequent to watching the film, simply because I couldn’t wrap my head around
its neat little conclusion, because it wasn’t as neat as it seemingly
professed to be. Admittedly, there were much fewer articles available (this
being a foreign language film and being overshadowed, in the English-speaking
world at least, by its Hollywood remake); yet none alluded to the possible
ambiguity that I took away from the film!
Oh well. I am a sucker for ambiguous endings. They
say that the beauty of art is in its interpretation. And clearly, this film is cinematic
art at its best. Right up there among my all-time favourite crime dramas, this
one is a must-watch, not just for lovers of the genre, but simply anyone who is
a fan of intelligent filmmaking.
