"If you keep going over your past, you'll end up with a thousand pasts and not future."
When I first rented this, I had no idea it was the 2009 Oscar winner for best foreign film. I had seen the trailer and decided to give it a shot. The movie takes place in Argentina in two different times, 1974 and 1999. It involves a detective, played by Ricardo Darin, who is given the case of a brutal rape/murder. At the same time, he is introduced to his new boss, a lovely woman played by Soledad Villamil. As the movie goes on and the case becomes more complicated, so does his relationship and feelings for his boss. The movie is essentially two movies in one. A romance and a thriller, but trust me, this isn't some silly James Patterson novel, this story is near flawless.
The movie does take aim at some political unrest, especially within the police force, during the early 70's, but knowing this doesn't matter. The story is about two things, the detective's relationship with his boss and his desire to know the truth. When the movie first starts, we see Darin, struggling to write a novel. We believe it's a romance novel, until a vision of a brutal crime darts across the screen. It is then, that we know this will be a something with twists and turns. It's now 1999 and the retired detective goes to see his old. He speaks of his novel and the two discuss the old crime that has haunted him.
In the course of the movie, we are realize, as do all the characters, that the detective is smitten with his boss. In one scene, when his drunken partner is solving part of the case, he utters that man can change anything about himself, but he can't change his passion. This opens the young detectives mind and he carries this with him throughout the movie. The movie also delves into the idea of never looking back. To not live life with any regrets or questions. In the end, we see that the detective has lost so much of his life wondering what if and it had clouded his judgment, never allowing him to follow this passion.
The movie is exquisitely paced and doesn't feel over two hours. The action, is limited, but the feel of the movie, is one of a classic detective movie, which is not to take away from the incredible secondary story. All the time I was watching it, I kept saying to myself, "if I ever wrote a screenplay, this is what I would want to achieve. Complexity, subtlety and an ending that will shock everyone." Incredible ride and well deserving of it's Oscar win.
When I first rented this, I had no idea it was the 2009 Oscar winner for best foreign film. I had seen the trailer and decided to give it a shot. The movie takes place in Argentina in two different times, 1974 and 1999. It involves a detective, played by Ricardo Darin, who is given the case of a brutal rape/murder. At the same time, he is introduced to his new boss, a lovely woman played by Soledad Villamil. As the movie goes on and the case becomes more complicated, so does his relationship and feelings for his boss. The movie is essentially two movies in one. A romance and a thriller, but trust me, this isn't some silly James Patterson novel, this story is near flawless.
The movie does take aim at some political unrest, especially within the police force, during the early 70's, but knowing this doesn't matter. The story is about two things, the detective's relationship with his boss and his desire to know the truth. When the movie first starts, we see Darin, struggling to write a novel. We believe it's a romance novel, until a vision of a brutal crime darts across the screen. It is then, that we know this will be a something with twists and turns. It's now 1999 and the retired detective goes to see his old. He speaks of his novel and the two discuss the old crime that has haunted him.
In the course of the movie, we are realize, as do all the characters, that the detective is smitten with his boss. In one scene, when his drunken partner is solving part of the case, he utters that man can change anything about himself, but he can't change his passion. This opens the young detectives mind and he carries this with him throughout the movie. The movie also delves into the idea of never looking back. To not live life with any regrets or questions. In the end, we see that the detective has lost so much of his life wondering what if and it had clouded his judgment, never allowing him to follow this passion.
The movie is exquisitely paced and doesn't feel over two hours. The action, is limited, but the feel of the movie, is one of a classic detective movie, which is not to take away from the incredible secondary story. All the time I was watching it, I kept saying to myself, "if I ever wrote a screenplay, this is what I would want to achieve. Complexity, subtlety and an ending that will shock everyone." Incredible ride and well deserving of it's Oscar win.
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