+ Best Argentinian Movie of the Year + Best $ Return of the Year: 16.95 times the cost
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| A rich tapestry of incidents and drama is hinted at in this poster for Juan José Campanella's The Secret in Their Eyes |
A newly retired police investigator intends to write a book about the rape and murder case of a 23 year-old beauty, which has haunted him for 25 years. His writing also reopens an old romance.
The Secret in Their Eyes is written by Eduardo Sacheri (Underdogs/Metegol (2013)) and co-writer/co-producer/director/editor Juan José Campanella (The Boy Who Cried Bitch (1991)), adapting Sacheri's novel La Pregunta de Sus Ojos (2005).
It is an excting and good romance thriller with a good deal of welcome humor as well as technical excellence involved: It has a five minute-long chase scene at a packed football stadium in the 1970, which is downright virtuoso. (Cinematography by Félix Monti (Northeast/Nordeste (2005)).)
Periods of The Secret in Their Eyes is so suspenseful, it provokes goosebumps. The story deals with themes of guilt, doubt, judgement - and secrets. It is well-acted - but long; the romance takes center stage in the film's third act, and it never becomes too interesting, which hurts the overall good work.
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2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Cost: Reportedly 2 mil. $
Box office: 33.9 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 16.95 times its cost)
[The Secret in Their Eyes was released 13 August (Argentina) and runs 129 minutes. Shooting took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina from October - November 2008. The stadium scene reportedly took 3 months of planning, 3 days to shot and the use of 200 extras. If the 2 mil. $ budget is accurate, which seems highly unlikely, the film was completed at an impressively low cost. 11 companies and support bodies were involved in its making. It opened #30 to a 167k $ first weekend in 10 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #14 and in 160 theaters (different weeks), playing for 27 weeks, grossing 6.3 mil. $ (18.6 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 3rd biggest market: Biggest was its main production country Argentina with 9.2 mil. $ (27.1 %), 2nd biggest co-producing country Spain with 7.9 mil. $ (23.3 %). At the time of its release, the film became Argentina's 2nd highest-grossing film ever. The film won the Best Foreign Film Oscar for Argentina, the country's second such win, a first for a Latin-American country. It was also nominated for a BAFTA, a César award, a David di Donatello award, a European Film award, won 2/9 Goya award nominations and 13/17 Argentinian Academy awards. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to two notches higher than this one. IMDb's users have rated the film into the site's Top 250 at #141, currently sitting between Come and See (1985) and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). Campanella returned with episodes in 4 TV-series before his next theatrical film, animation Underdogs (2013). Ricardo Darín (XXY (2007)) returned in The Dancer and the Thief/El Baile de la Victoria (2009). The Secret in Their Eyes is certified fresh at 91 % with a 7.74/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Secret in Their Eyes?
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