El secreto in their eyes... nominated for Oscars Campanella’s film noir hit to vie for the Best Foreign Language Picture award

The news came as no surprise to the nearly 2.5 million viewers of Juan José Campanella film noir hit El secreto de sus ojos (The Secret In Their Eyes / The Secret of Her Eyes), but it was certainly good news for the thriving Argentine movie industry.

Directed by Juan José Campanella — whose previous directorial efforts received mixed to good reviews but were in general derided by the local intelligentsia for their overt sentimentalism — The Secret In Their Eyes, based on Eduardo Sacheri’s novel El secreto de sus ojos, veered off Campanella’s trademark predictability to tell the disturbing story of an unsolved murder-rape case which haunts a court clerk, Benjamín Espósito (Ricardo Darín).

Obsessed with the cold case, Espósito decides to spend his early retirement days writing a fictionalized account of the brutal crime.
Thirty years after the case was filed away, Espósito dusts off the archives with the help of a former fellow worker (Guillermo Francella) and judge Irene Hastings.

The Secret of Campanella’s thriller lies, perhaps, in that the director chose to follow one main narrative line while leaving long-concealed feelings, longings and deceptions in the background. Also in the background, but more prominent in the case, is the impunity with which the armed forces operated during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

The Secret In Their Eyes is Campanella’s second Oscar nomination, after Son of the Bride (2001). The Secret... is Argentina’s sixth effort to claim the coveted statuette, which it won on only one ocassion, with Luis Puenzo’s 1985 The Official Story, in which the issue of the children of the disappeared was closer in time and more painful to the people of Argentina.

The Secret...’s Oscar nomination comes hot on the heels of the Goya Awards, the Spanish Academy’s film prizes, which Campanella’s film swept off. The Goya Prizes are set to be presented next February 14.

Speaking on Radio del Plata, actress Soledad Villamil, who plays judge Hasting, said yesterday’s announcement made her very happy, and that she was still trying to take in the news. “The nomination itself is very important for Argentine cinema, for it will help it get the kind of reception it deserves.”

For his part, actor Guillermo Francella — regularly typecast as a buffoon — was given the chance to turn in a surprisingly good performance as an obscure court clerk who drowns his miserable life into alcohol.

The Secret... is Argentina’s sixth movie to vie for the Best Foreign Language Picture, the others being La Tregua (1974), by Sergio Renán; Camila (1984), by María Luisa Bemberg; La historia oficial (1985), by Luis Puenzo; Tango (1998), by Spanish director Carlos Saura; and El hijo de la novia (2001), also directed by Campanella.

Speaking on Radio 10, Francella said that, “There was a great deal of expectation, for we know The Secret... is a great movie, but it came as a shock when the nominations were announced. I was told the film is doing very well abroad, especially in Spain.

“You never know what may come your way, there was this wonderful script (developed by Campanella and novelist Sacheri), and the fact that Campanella is an accomplished director.

“Of course, I would love to attend the ceremony, but there’s a whole bunch of us, I have no idea how the Academy handles these affairs.”
In statements to TN television news channel, Sacheri affirmed that The Secret... has received due recognition because Campanella made a bold move and stepped on uncharted territory for him. The Secret... is darker in tone and more tragic than his previous productions.”

In September last year, shortly after its release, The Secret... was picked by the Argentine Academy as the country’s entry for the Oscars, taking 57 out of 85 votes.
Competing in the Best Foreign Language Picture will be Peru’s La teta asustada (critically acclaimed here but otherwise ignored by audiences), by Claudia Llosa; Israel’s Ajami, by Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani; France’s Un Prophet, by Jacques Audiard; and Germany’s The White Ribbon.