Well the first thing that struck me about the film, described as a thriller and with an 18 certificate, is how much humour there is in it.
The film starts with Benjamin Esposito, who is retired from the legal profession and trying to write the first paragraph of a novel. His creative vision is haunted by two things: an unsolved rape and murder of a beautiful young woman from 25 years ago and his long held but secret love for his boss Irene.
He visits Irene to test out his idea of writing a novel based on the murder and so begins a series of flash backs to the events that followed the crime. The boundaries between fiction and fact are as hazy as the witty repartee and put-downs between the co-workers within the legal profession are crackling.
The story of the murder twists and turns as politics and corruption come into play but the film is interwoven with warm friendship between Benjamin, Irene and co-worker Pablo Sandoval - an unreliable but loyal alcoholic. And also the secret love Benjamin bears for Irene and the love between the murdered woman and her husband.
How much of the ending is artistic license within Benjamin's novel and how much actually happens is left for the audience to debate. The Secret in Their Eyes is a tense thriller and a love story but it is also witty and at times amusing.
Should it have won the Oscar? Well of the four films it was up against, I saw two: A Prophet (still hunting my review on vox) and The White Ribbon. Out of those three I would have chosen The White Ribbon without hesitation but with Secret possibly second.
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