Secret In Their Eyes

Secret in Their Eyes is the third film to lớn be written và directed by Billy Ray after Breach (2007) & Shattered Glass (2003). It stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman, & Julia Roberts. It is a Hollywood remake of the 2010 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, El secreto de sus ojos (2009).

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The film follows two Los Angeles investigators, Ray (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Jess (Julia Roberts), và their supervisor Claire (Nicole Kidman). Ray has been haunted by the mystery & injustice surrounding the devastating death of Jess’s daughter Carolyn. Now, thirteen years later, Ray returns to Los Angeles with a new lead. In hopes of bringing justice và closure for himself and Jess, Ray embarks on a hunt that uncovers shocking secrets.

As with many Hollywood remakes of foreign films, this film fails to lớn “translate” the original. Perhaps, this is because American screenwriters seem to believe American audiences are obtuse & fickle, thereby explicating too much, adding more “action” & ironically ending with dull “appropriations.” Billy Ray told The Hollywood Reporter, “I loved the story và felt that there was the possibility in it for a more muscular version of the thriller — a more American kind of story.” If by “muscularity” Ray is refering lớn an unnecessary over-complication of the story, he has succeeded. However, more flashbacks, more information và more present “tension,” does not a good film make. The thriller/detective genre is an instance where less really is more. The viewer is drawn into the film by having to pay close attention, trying to lớn make sense of clues, & is ultimately rewarded with the surprise of clues that were misinterpreted or missed. Gone is the fun irreverence, raw exploration of human darkness, vicarious satisfaction, và surprise of the final payoff present in the original. Instead, Billy Ray proposes a morose, sanitized, “complex” and unrewarding version.

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Two themes are central lớn the film: corruption and forgiveness. As Carolyn’s killer is set không lấy phí because he is an asset to lớn the department as a “snitch,” Ray, Jess, & Claire find themselves asking if, in the “grand scheme of things,” information is really more valuable than a human life. This remake adds khổng lồ the moral complexity of this theme, by having Carolyn’s killer provide information about members of a mosque in post-9/11 Los Angeles. Does this value justify the actions of their superiors? Is one life more valuable than another? At what point does “the greater good” supersede justice? These are questions the film raises and leaves lớn the viewer khổng lồ debate.

Forgiveness & retribution are also explored in the film. This is done primarily through the character of Jess. After thirteen years have past, Ray returns to instigate Claire & Jess, wanting closure, wanting retribution. Carolyn is dead, but the killer is potentially still alive và free. Being that she is rendered juridically powerless, Jess is left wanting khổng lồ take matters into her own hands. This may seem insensitive và contradictory, but why does Jess need the killer to “pay?” Does justice require retribution? Should Jess forgive Carolyn’s killer? Does forgiveness have prerequisites?

Matthew 6:12 says, “Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you, just as we also forgive those who have wronged us” (CEB). This verse seems lớn oversimplify & justify or demand God’s forgiveness. Apparently because we “just forgive,” the Father should forgive us. In reality, humanity has wronged God both in disobedience to lớn the Father, and in violence against the Son. Yet, it is through that very act of violent wrongdoing that the Father provided forgiveness for us all. So great is God’s mercy và desire khổng lồ make us just, that God “goes out of God’s way” to lớn provide forgiveness. Such that, despite the Father’s righteousness & because of the Son’s righteousness we have been forgiven. If the Father being the only righteous one & in a position to judge và condemn, has forgiven us, then we must surely be compelled khổng lồ forgive others. It is in the acts of wrongdoing that the opportunity for forgiveness is born. Thus, forgiveness is not earned, or achieved, but readily, actively and purposefully given. For us this is easier said than done. Nevertheless, it is an integral & life giving part of who God has called us to be.