At The Cinema - May 2010

The Secret in Their Eyes – 9

I admit it, I came late to foreign films. Maybe it was Pan’s Labyrinth that convinced me I could watch subtitles and still enjoy a movie. Maybe it was Run Lola Run. I don’t know.

I was stunned when Pan’s Labyrinth didn’t win the Oscar for Best Foreign Film of 2006. But, the Academy put in a rule that if you didn’t see all the foreign films you couldn’t vote. So, I had to go see the winner – The Lives of Others, and it was dynamite.

Last year it was The Secret In Their Eyes, an Argentina film, albeit directed by Law & Order veteran Juan Rose Campenella that upset heavy favorite White Ribbon. So, I thought I’d check it out.

Good decision. The Secret In Their Eyes is a love story/murder mystery that goes back and forth in time (like so many movies do now) and weaves a slow hypnotic spell, before culminating in an ending that surprised me. Endings rarely surprise me anymore – but this one got me. Filled with humor, some very minor but realistic action, and most importantly quiet passion, it is the story of a brutal rape and murder that haunts a retired investigator into writing a novel based on the crime. As he writes he begins to question his life, the investigation, and most importantly his choices of the heart.

In retrospect, the title gives too much away, as Ricardo Darin and Soledad Villamil’s faces speak knowing volumes of the case and the feelings they’ve never forgotten and what could have been – should have been as the killer and their feelings got away.

Subtitles are almost unnecessary. This is a marvelous, riveting film. If you get the chance – guess the secret.


Exit Through The Gift Shop – 7

Here’s the hot documentary of the moment. For me, this is a tale of 2 movies. The first hour is a riveting tale of a compulsive filmographer. Thierry Guetta spent many years filming street artists at work around the world. His fascinating footage has been spliced together by Banksy, a legendary and unfilmed street graffiti artist himself. I didn’t know much about this subject - now I know too much. The first hour is funny and enthralling.

Unfortunately, the last 40 minutes or so, when Guetta becomes an artist himself, is not only less interesting, but less entertaining, and ultimately less believable. As I left the theater I wasn’t sure if I’d just been manipulated, or someone was pulling my leg – Hard.

If you see it, you decide. Then let me know. Not a great film, but the kind you’ll be talking about for a week. Especially if you're trying to figure out the title.