El Secreto de Sus Ojos (The Secret in their Eyes)
Dir. Juan José Campanella.
Starring Ricardo Darín, Guillermo Francella, Soledad Villamil and Pablo Rago.
Released: 2009 

“The eyes speak. Sometimes for nothing…sometimes they should shut up.”
- Benjamín Espósito. 

Undoubtedly my favorite film. Yes there are a lot of films that give me a similar emotional reaction as does this one, but if someone points a gun to my head and asks me for my single favorite film, this will always be the answer. No other movie drives me to an insane desire to make films as much as this one does.

What is it about? Simply put by IMDB:

 A retired legal counselor writes a novel hoping to find closure for one of his past unresolved homicide cases and for his unreciprocated love with his superior - both of which still haunt him decades later.

Sounds riveting yes, but I give you a plain and brief story summary because words don’t do this movie justice, simply go see it, and read on for my thoughts.

This film simply did everything right, and it is damn near perfect. Director Juan José Campanella delivers another beautiful film (Son of the Bride and Avellaneda’s Moon). I always fail to articulate my thoughts perfectly but everything from a beautiful cinematography, flawless performances, developing characters with immense depth, meaningful composition, stylistic choices in color, pacing, and camera movement, and a long 6 minute take chasing a criminal through a crowded stadium which achieved ‘epic’ status without being indulgent at all, makes this movie perfect. Top that off with hilarious dialogue and a twist-driven plot and you have a masterpiece.

This film takes you on a rocky trip through different emotions, traveling on curves of different energetic tones. The love portrayed by Morales (Rago) for his wife is so passionate, that it doesn’t matter that we never saw the two together (besides in Esposito’s imagination). The chemistry between Esposito (Darín) and Pablo (Francella) is more entertaining than R2D2 and C3PO. Though relevant in a historical Argentinian context, the conclusions the film comes to about a person’s unchangeable passion and it’s portrayal of haunting memories are universal, and come out beautifully in the words of writer Eduardo Sacheri and Campanella.

So what’s left to do but to buy this movie and commit to watching it at least twice a year for the rest of my life? Learn from it. I have drawn immensely from this movie, knowledge that I will surely one day use and be influenced by. Most of it came after watching the movie with the director’s commentary (Campanella was a Tisch graduate, as I too will be!), probably the most productive 129 minutes I’ve ever spent.

I’ve shown this movie to some friends, all of which have liked it (one close pal even declared it his favorite film, after a 4th watch. Imagine my glee). But it makes me sad how most american film viewers reject watching this based on this presumption: “O it’s not in english, it has subtitles? I don’t wanna read!” How hurtful…I guess there is some bitter sweetness to this rejection, since it means this movie will remain a slightly hidden treasure…right?

Nope…as the 2nd part of my post’s title alludes to, and as the saying goes: all good things come to Hollywood with a remake (it’s a saying, right?).

Yes, this movie, which won the well-deserved Oscar for Best Foreign film not even 2 years ago, has been picked up by Warner Bros. for a remake. This, is dangerously upsetting news to me. Why take something perfect and remake it? Because American audiences nationwide hate reading subtitles, and will never see this masterpiece unless it’s a fast-paced thriller starring Denzel Washington (Yes, Washington has the offered the lead role). Why must Hollywood touch a perfect movie with its giant remake claws!? Can’t we make some original content, please?

Let’s just say that Denzel has huge shoes to fill for Darin’s performance, and director Billy Ray (Shattered Glass and Breach) has monumental zapatos to fill.