ARGENTINA ARE proving to be a thrilling team at the South African World Cup, and are among the favourites to lift the trophy, but it is also a good time for Argentine film making.
Argentinean crime drama The Secret In Their Eyes (2009 ), possibly the most artificially and commercially successful film to have emerged from the South American nation, will be screened in the Galway Omniplex on Saturday July 10 at 9.30pm as part of the Galway Film Fleadh.
The film centres on Benjamín Espósito, who has spent his entire working life as a criminal court employee. Recently retired and with time on his hands, he decides to write a novel, and draws on his own past to describe a tragic story in which he was once directly involved.
In 1974, his court was assigned an investigation into the rape and murder of a young woman. Returning to the scene of the crime, Espósito meets Ricardo Morales, who had married the girl a short time before her death.
Moved by Ricardo’s grief, Espósito tries to help him find the culprit despite having to contend with the apathy and ineptitude of the police and legal system. The search for the murderer is difficult. No clues remain at the scene of the crime and Espósito must rely on guesswork and his own instincts to make progress.
Not only that, Argentina in 1974 was not a peaceful place, as the Perónist regime was beginning a slow drift towards the horrific military regime of Jorge Rafael Videla.
No longer an observer, Espósito becomes an unwilling central character in a drama in which he is exposed to ever-greater danger.
The film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards, making Argentina the only country in Latin America that has won it, and the first one to do so twice, having already won for La Historia Oficial in 1985.
The Secret In Their Eyes also won Best Spanish Language Foreign Film of 2009 at the Goya Awards, the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars. It has since gone on to become the second biggest box office success in Argentine film history, only surpassed by Nazareno Cruz y el Lobo.
For tickets contact the Town Hall on 091 - 569777 or see www.tht.ie See also www.galwayfilmfleadh.com
