Considering what happened to many Argentinians who went up against the government, the fact that both Esposito and his love interest survived physically intact and were able to be together in the end is a relatively happy ending. I agree that the film makes it clear that they will carry a lot of baggage (both on their own and as a couple) even if their relationship is mostly positive.
Thank God for small favors.
Have you seen La Historia Oficial? (Another Argentinian Best Foreign Film winner that deals with this era of Argentinia history).
No but I'll fix that. It sounds awesome.
I believe that. But I also really doubt that many Academy members did a lot of research to pick up on any of those deeper layers of meaning.
Perhaps not. Perhaps some are from Argentina. Perhaps some read the book. Perhaps just knowing it's there earned the film some extra credit. Perhaps, like myself, they loved it with out knowing anything about it. It's probably a variety pack.
By "accessible" I mean a film that can be mostly followed (on both a plot and emotional/character arc) level without doing too much heavy lifting.
I think the emotional aspect of the movie is much more complex than either you want to admit or realize. I'm not saying you need to be a genius, but you do need to think and it's easy to miss a lot of things.
The "bare bones" of The Secret in Their Eyes are those of a typical murder mystery/political thriller.
That's true; one of the things I've said before this conversation is that the plot is unimportant, a means to an end. You are looking at the movie at the most superficial level possible. You could do that with any movie. A person watching this movie like that doesn't get the movie, and in turn won't have as high of an opinion of it.
The main character is a detective trying to do the right thing.
Why? Sure, it's his job, but he's also traumatized by it-very different from other "thrillers". Furthermore, he becomes fueled by the husband's deep and unending love for the deceased, something he's never had but yearns for, yet lacks the courage to pursue.
The villains are very obvious.
Yes, but it's not about the villains and there's no effort put forth to not make them obvious. It's supposed to be that way.
The theme of regret is explicitly voiced by the main character several times.
I don't specifically remember this, but just because the viewer knows it's there, that doesn't mean the viewer understands or feels it.
Toward the end (and while I liked the film, I thought this part was SO heavy handed), he takes a index card that reads "Temo" (I fear) and adds an "a" so that it reads "Te Amo" (I love you). Fear becomes love.
He adds an A, not an a, an important distinction. Yes, fear becomes love, and he's motivated by what Morales did, even though it horrified him. Part of the reason it horrified him is what Morales had done to himself and he doesn't want to end up like that. He finds the courage he didn't have before, the courage to do anything in the name of true love, like Morales had done. The A that was missing from his typewriter while writing his novel represented what was missing in his life. He adds the A to the paper just like he had been adding it to his book.
He then rushes to her office where, breathing heavily, he declares his love.
Well, I hope that's not how he voices regret because he doesn't mention love. He says he needs to talk to her just like he's done in the past. This time she senses it's different.
To the sound of happy, hopeful music
The exact same music that was sad during the train scene at the beginning. Interestingly enough, the film is also about how we process memory.
she smiles broadly in a bright room next to bright flowers and tells him to come in.
Red to be exact, not the first time in the movie red was intentionally used. And he was already in, she just told him to close the door.
The final shot is literally a door closing. You could watch this film and pay almost zero attention to the entire political element and still come away feeling like you "got it".
I'm sure people have felt that way and were wrong. Those are probably not the people who love it.
By contrast, I think that something like Mother is a bit more daring and complicated in its ending. I think that it leaves you not knowing quite how to feel. I think that it is also a relatively accessible film, but I think that the character arc is a bit more complex and the resolution is not as "neat".
I'd have to watch it again, but my guess is that it could also be stripped down to its bare bones.
My opinion is just "I'm not surprised that more people like The Secret in Their Eyes even though I like other films better."
I could say that about any movie besides my favorite. I often recommend movies to people that I don't even like myself.
I was thrilled with Moonlight's win (not the least because I have a friend who frequently collaborates with the writer, who I think is amazing), but Crash over Brokeback Mountain to me displays that often a kind of comfortable competency hits the right notes with a large enough chunk of voters to pull out a win.
I liked all 3 movies but didn't think any were best picture material. My opinion of course.
I'm not saying people are voting for the film they think will be more popular. I'm saying they genuinely liked it! But I do question just a little (as I do with the other categories), the degree to which genre and surface-level story play a role.
Yes of course they liked it. A big point to my argument is that I don't think they'd like it enough to vote for it had they only seen it at surface level.
The Headless Woman is excellent and disturbing and darkly funny. It has layered critique of class and race politics in South America and it doesn't spoon-feed you anything. I would highly recommend it.
I like the synopsis and I certainly love disturbing and dark humor
I'll keep an eye out for Castle of Purity, though it doesn't seem to be streaming on any of my services currently.
I can send you a link if you watch movies that way.