El secreto de sus ojos (The Secret in their Eyes) (2010)

From Argentina comes “El secreto de sus ojos,” an Oscar-winning crime drama about a retired federal agent (Ricardo Darín) unable to let a decades-old bungled rape/murder case slip from his mind. It’s also, and this seriously works wonders, a story of unrealized love. The detective has turned novelist, but has no ending for his book on this one crime, so he seeks out his former supervisor (Soledad Villamil) then the widower (Pablo Rago) of the victim and, finally, the killer (Javier Godino). It’s no shock that everyone in this film has a secret, the title says it all. But director Juan José Campanella deftly lays the cards on the table one by one with skill, never drawing a joker. I loved the details: A crap typewriter with a bum “A,” the use of photographs, how quickly a man can sober up when faced with a choice of heroism or cowardice, and the meaning of justice to a devastated romantic. A-