Benjamin Esposito (Ricardo Darin) is trying to summarize the last 25 years of his life in his novel, which he continuously keeps re-doing. Finding regrets and/or ideas on how his life went the wrong way makes him turn to his friend Irene Menedez (Soledad Villamil). Irene was the person who Benjamin thought could have been much more than just a friend. As Benjamin seeks guidance, Irene helps Benjamin recall the gruesome events of a 25 year old case, when he was just a rookie investigator, in which Liliana Colotto was raped and murdered. Benjamin becomes obsessed in finding the truth and as he continues where he left off, new revelations are uncovered that will shock him.

The Secret in Their Eyes is a jewel, one rare jewel to be exact. It’s a movie that many will just brush off and others will only see it because of word of mouth, which is a shame really. Juan Jose Campanella’s masterful directing and storytelling has left us a gem to continuously admire. Campanella’s incredible ability to bring a mixture of two different stories, one of the murder case at hand and the other of the love story that unfolds as the story moves on. The Secret in Their Eyes has much more than the eyes can see at first glance, Benjamin and Irene hold such passion and love for each other that while it’s not being told straight out it is quite noticeable. At least that’s what the filmmaker is trying to let the viewers know. The layered style in the story really proves to be quite efficient as Campanella always allows the viewers to be suckered into scene and make you feel part of it.

This film couldn’t have worked well if the actors weren’t up to par with the picture. Ricardo Darin and Soledad Villamil were simply masterful. The love story that these two perfectly play out is hidden behind the main murder case, but it was played so well that everything was left to the imagination of the viewers, if you look closely you know there was something there and that’s the beauty of Campanella’s film. It allowed you, the viewer, to get sucked in, but not without truly believable acting performances. Again, everything surrounding this production is simply top notch. I have no doubts why this movie won the Oscar for the best foreign film beating another personal favorite, A Prophet.

The Secret in Their Eyes arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG4-AVC encode framed at 2.35:1. Colors are vibrant and very well reproduced at all times during the film. The color palette appears to be even across the board with balanced colors all around. Black levels are inky and well reproduced. Skin tones are natural all throughout the film. The film does exhibit some banding in various scenes, but it’s really not so drastic as they are vary few scenes with issues. Overall, The Secret in Their Eyes features a great video transfer typical of Sony’s high quality work that will leave everyone satisfied.

The Secret in Their Eyes arrives on Blu-ray with a Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless track. The Secret in Their Eyes is a dialog driven film so with that out of the way you now should know that this movie isn’t going to put your system to work. The dialogue is clean and clear and reproduced throughout with a single problem. The ambiance and atmospheric effects can be found throughout the film, but they are very few sequences that make the surrounds work to give you that extra engrossing sensation. Take it for what it is, a dialogue driven title that will reward its viewers with an excellent visual content. That’s not to say the track doesn’t get the job done, on contrary, the track sounds as good as it could be for a film like this. This title contains a Spanish and French DTS-HD track as well as English and French subtitles. Yes, you may have to read subtitles.

Audio Commentary – This audio track features Juan Jose Campanella speaking about the plot, the actors, the story, and more. The track is very informative and it comes easily recommended. FYI, the track is in Spanish with English subtitles.

Casting “The Secret in Their Eyes” – This piece allows the viewers to see some footage of the actors during rehearsals. This featurette is about 10 minutes long.

Behind the Scenes of “The Secret in Their Eyes” – This is a generic interview piece with scenes from the movie cut into the discussion.

Trailers – Movie trailers for The White Ribbon, Please Give, The Pillars of the Earth, Get Low, A Prophet, Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky, Micmacs, and Animal Kingdom.

BD-Live Functionality

The Secret in Their Eyes is a masterful and absorbing film. From the minute it begins to the minute it is over, it will keep you to your seat. Juan Jose Campanella’s masterful direction combined with an excellent script and masterful acting by his cast made this movie an entire success. It’s easily one of the best foreign films released in the last several years and I have no doubts as to why it won the Academy Award. The Blu-ray features an excellent video and audio presentation, but lacks more supplements. Either way, The Secret in Their Eyes will leave you pleased once the credits begin rolling. This is highly recommended.