Several years ago, I had cultivated a certain habit in my movie watching. This was when I was in the US. I used to pick a theme of some sorts, such as all the works of a particular director, or movies from a particular country, as a way to guide my watching. There was the pretention of wanting to be a serious movie buff, and one might add to that, a taste for the foreign and/or offbeat. What exactly might foreign mean I wonder now – not Indian, or not American?

These were the days when Netflix shipped DVD’s home, 3 at a time. Even though I eventually exhausted most of the good stuff they had, and I usually had a long list on my profile so they could ship the next ones after I had returned the previous batch, I did get to watch a lot.

During one such period, I was watching movies from Argentina. There is a certain vicarious pleasure of being in other parts of the world through the world of film. After watching a few, one develops a slight sense of familiarity with the place and culture. One gets a peep into the minds of the people and learns what connects us as humans as well as the nuances and idiosyncracies of another land.

One of the things I remember from my Argentine films experience was how almost every movie, irrespective of where the story was based, had a reference, however fleeting to a dark period in Argentine history. This had to do with the fascist regime, the persecution and torture of dissidents, and how several people went missing.

Recently my friend Madan, watched “The Secret in their Eyes” on Amazon Prime. I remembered watching it too, but had forgotten the details. I did remark though about my observation regarding how every Argentinian movie seemed to have these dark political undertones.

Yesterday, I watched the movie again, with no particular intent, other than to spend time with a good work. Ostensibly a story of unrequited love between a highly educated woman boss in the judicial system and her investigator subordinate, the movie reveals other themes, particularly of love and the desire for retribution against a heinous crime.

My first reaction was that perhaps this movie did not have those political dimensions – maybe there was an exception. But, as I reflected on some of the minor seeming details, I realized how behind the ostensible cover of the love story between the protagonists, was the real story of the corrupt judicial system, in cahoots and collusion with the junta.

The act of rebellion comes then from the common man, a victim of the crime, who finds a way to deliver justice outside the system.

Ah, so my hunch did turn out to be right. This is ofcourse not backed with scholarly research. I have not properly studied all Argentinian Cinema to claim any authoritative knowledge, but there is this facet, that might be worth looking at someday.