El secreto de sus ojos by Sacheri and Campanella

Abstract

In 2005 the Argentinian writer Eduardo Sacheri published The Question in Their Eyes (La pregunta de sus ojos).  The novel narrates on a double level, both fictional and temporal, the decision of a retired prosecutor to come to terms with a case of rape and murder which had taken place years earlier: his life had been shattered by the consequences of that tragedy, and writing about it would be a way to start living again.  The director Juan José Campanella - widely famous for having directed episodes of the television series Law & Order, but especially as the director of successful films such as El hijo de la novia - decided to adapt the novel and involved Sacheri in the project: the close collaboration between writer and director produced a bold screenplay that adds to the noir thriller a more romantic dimension.  Disproving the commonplace of the writer jealous of his work, they wrote together a new version which retains certain elements of the original text, but also introduces a number of relevant changes to the structure, characters and ending of the novel.  The Secret in Their Eyes  (El secreto de sus ojos), shot in 2008, was released the following year and in 2010 won the Academy Award for best foreign language film.