Monday, 14 February 2011

Secret in Their Eyes
[El Secreto de Sus Ojos]
(2009)

RATING: 80%

Subtle and complex suspenser that takes the form of a retired man reassessing his life, which also becomes an assessment of the politics of his country. A solved but unpunished rape and murder reveals the corruption at the heart of the political situation here, along with the devastated lives made worse by a justice system unable to dispense much justice. And all of this is dramatically-related to the central character’s lost love.

Obviously, the timidity of a culture is matched by its populace and here the schizophrenia cries out for release. The rapist is a weakling and seeks solace in murder; while the more normal characters gaze at their desires and, like the criminal, are unable to find satisfaction or fulfillment - except in trivial passions like soccer or going to the pub.

The performances are faultless and the focus on the looks the actors give each other fully emphasizes the theme of living in the past, since they are only looking, not so much doing. The only caveat to all of the above is this film’s undue length.


Copyright © 2011 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved. Frank TALKER is also the author of Sweaty Socks: A Treatise on the Inevitability of Toe Jam in Hot Weather (East Cheam Press: Groper Books, 1997) and is University of Bullshit Professor Emeritus of Madeupology.

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Science:



No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.



Jacob Bronowski… (1908 - 74), British scientist, author. Encounter (London, July 1971).


Sleep of Reason:



The dream of reason produces monsters. Imagination deserted by reason creates impossible, useless thoughts. United with reason, imagination is the mother of all art and the source of all its beauty.



Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes… (1746-1828), Spanish painter. Caption to Caprichos, number 43, a series of eighty etchings completed in 1798, satirical and grotesque in form.


Humans & Aliens:



I am human and let nothing human be alien to me.



Terence… (circa 190-159 BC), Roman dramatist. Chremes, in The Self-Tormentor [Heauton Timorumenos], act 1, scene 1.


Führerprinzip:



One leader, one people, signifies one master and millions of slaves… There is no organ of conciliation or mediation interposed between the leader and the people, nothing in fact but the apparatus - in other words, the party - which is the emanation of the leader and the tool of his will to oppress. In this way the first and sole principle of this degraded form of mysticism is born, the Führerprinzip, which restores idolatry and a debased deity to the world of nihilism.