The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
Even Spanish legal thrillers are sexy.
Presentation:
While some films are good with maybe some small complaints, this is a good film that has big ones. It starts off pretty strong with a very powerful opener, but then slows to a halt. For the first hour basically nothing happens to the point where I think many people will fall asleep or stop watching halfway through. There’s a ton of meandering conversations for no other purpose, which resembles TV but not film. It’s also not the interesting type of small talk you find get from a Tarantino film, it’s a lot of mundane conversations to add realism and build the characters. This would be fine if we cared about the characters, but we don’t because we are invested in the murder not their daily life. The film becomes riveting in the 2nd half with some erotic thriller aspects making this quite a sexy legal thriller though still grounded. The visuals are quite soft and the use of handheld and dutch angles emphasize Spanish sensibilities.
Conclusion:
This is definitely a complex narrative, but the rewards are high. The storytelling is unique, but it’s not without flaws. I liked the second half of the film, but the first half had me dozing off. I would obviously be more invested if I watched the second half first, but that’s not how the watching experience works. So perhaps 2 viewings for this film would be better for me. It’s an intricate courtroom legal drama, which stands out for it’s more novel storytelling utilizing the past and novel writing to propel the story. Execution could have been better.
Recommendations
Some traumas can’t be washed clean.