The Secret In Their Eyes in the Oscar Awards

It may be a secret for all of us, but it has already been a surprise for everyone else. El Secreto de sus Ojos (The Secret In Their Eyes as the English title sells it) is gaining ground among its rivals in the Best Foreign Language Film category: the Argentine box office hit, praised here and internationally, is silently and slowly achieving an increasing popularity in several Oscar prediction sites and articles. Will it be able to beat apparent-favorite Haneke’s “The White Ribbon” or Peru’s “The Milk of Sorrow”?

Campanella’s latest film is a big question mark. Few people have watched it in the United States, as its release is scheduled for April. However, several sites offer the movie to be downloaded and moviegoers and cinema lovers appear to have been fulfilling their tasks when “watching all of the Oscar nominated films” obsession arises: just type the movie name plus a magical “free download” in Google and you will confirm it. Thousands of forums offer subtitled versions for those who enjoy computer screen film versions. This all accounts for one thing: curiosity. The Argentine film is arousing it, and it’s growing in popularity as fans watch it.

Independent-minded filmmakers’ site IndieWire, critically acclaimed and highly read among youngsters in the United States, gave Campanella’s second nominated film a specific number of chances: according to its prediction, the movie has “42 percent chance of winning the award.” And it dares to say even more: for the team in charge of the site, this will be the one and only movie of the five nominated which the Academy members will be able to “digest.”

As the article explains it, the movie “details an Argentine federal agent as he tries to solve a murder. It has a twisty narrative that comes together quite powerfully in the end, and is probably a much easier film for Academy members to digest.” This argument is supported by saying that France’s “A Prophet” is extremely violent and the Haneke’s (who achieved a Golden Globe for this same movie) “The White Ribbon” is “too unconventional.”

According to IndieWire, Peru’s “The Milk of Sorrow” (“La Teta Asustada” in its original title) has only a 4 percent chance of winning the award.

Independent sites or free-lance movie critics are not the only ones who consider Ricardo Darín and company’s nomination a complete surprise. Today’s Los Angeles Times article on Oscar predictions expressed that The Secret In Their Eyes “could be the surprise winner.”

The Hollywood Reporter site devoted an entire article to analyzing pros and cons that each of the Best Foreign Language Film candidates has. ‘Secret,’ as it was nicknamed, poses just one major disadvantage and is flattered to receive one of the best advantages. The site proclaims: “if voters are looking for something a little less dark and unsettling than the rest of the films in the field, the more conventional “Secret” is the obvious choice.” It then describes the film saying that “it drew a hearty round of applause at a recent Academy screening.”

What would the con be? An expected one: “unlike the other contenders, ‘Secret’ doesn’t have a war chest full of festival trophies to its credit, meaning buzz-building word-of-mouth is scarce.” For some, its release in April is making it hard to be taken seriously.

And that is not all: Variety says that “the press and public are enthusiastic for Juan José Campanella’s romantic thriller ‘The Secret in Their Eyes’.” Darín’s character attempt to write down a book of an unsolved case that chases him and unfolds an Argentine back-then-reality seems to have cast a spell on many people, and for proving it one just has to read the several pages its IMDB profile forum features. Discussing, debating, predicting.

Will it obtain the award? Will it give Argentina the gift of having another Oscar? Its secret it’s uncertainty. For now, all we can do is wait and forecast our own predictions. The Oscar’s ceremony will be held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California on March 7th.

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SOURCE:
“‘El Secreto de sus Ojos’ gains popularity among Oscar predictions”
March 04, 2010
Buenos Aires Herald

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