MovieChat Forums > El secreto de sus ojos (2010) Discussion > Ben And Irene....Spoiler thread

Ben And Irene....Spoiler thread

posted 11 years ago by lamont-hard
4 replies | jump to latest

I have not been able to find this film just yet, but I am curious about the romance between Irene and Ben. From reading about the film it seems as if it may have been tossed in for viewers looking for romance.

It seems odd she still had unresolved feeling for Ben after nearly twenty five years of marriage and two kids. Was she in the mist of a divorce or separation. The user reviews said she was recently married when she had feeling for him in witch he never returned before going in excile. Can any viewer spoil me with the details of this part of the film.

[–] PillowRock 11 years ago

I've only watched the movie once (well, twice; but the second one with the commentary track, so with almost all of the dialog missing), and my Spanish is weak so that I'm relying on subtitles. But my understanding of it was the following:

In the flashback portions of the movie, she has a boyfriend / fiance. He is smitten with her pretty much right away, but it seems to take her a bit more interaction before she is interested in him. He is slow to act on his attraction because she is a bit "above his pay grade"; in job, in education, in family background. They're just finally getting through all of those issues to start a personal relationship when he is forced to move from Buenos Aires for the sticks.

The exact status of Irene's marriage (divorced, separating, whatever) in the "present day" sections of the movie wasn't all that clear to me.

The overall circumstances surrounding the two of them getting closer and then being forced apart do sorta conspire to embed them both into each other's memories. So I don't find it surprising that they would both have feelings for / about each other many years later.

From the director's commentary track on the blu ray, he considered the love story to be the primary theme of the movie and criminal case to be the secondary one. So, from that POV the romance wasn't just "tossed in".

[–] lamont-hard 11 years ago

You Say,.....
The exact status of Irene's marriage (divorced, separating, whatever) in the "present day" sections of the movie wasn't all that clear to me.

This is why I don't get how the romance could be sold, I can't see a romance taking place when we don't know the current status of the people involved so maybe it was just a hook-up and the left it as use your imagination.

Maybe someone who has seen it more recently will comment here for my better understanding. Thanks for the response.

There is also the implications of he is writing this into his book and just fabricating it all. When one looks at this scenario, it seems to have merit. He is looking at it from what could have been the ending he wished for or wanted. She never says she has issues with her husband where she would then be interested in them being a couple. In other words he is deceased or we are divorced.

[–] piapaya 11 years ago

Here is how I see it: Irene is still married, ended up having kids who she loves dearly (as she says), but she is living a certain kind of life, a life of mediocrity, a "life full of nothing."

[–] paul-273-129025 10 years ago

I did wonder why if Ben wanted her so much he didn't get off the train. I may be wrong but there was a suggestion that the sequence with her running after the train was from her imagination. She says something to the effect of "Did I imagine that I ran after the train?" and he looks surprised as if he knows nothing about it.