It's a thriller. It's a love story. It's a puzzle movie. It's an acting tour de force. It's spectacular cinematography.

It's a masterpiece.

Going in, all I knew was that it was a highly regarded film from Argentina that won an Oscar. I know zip about Argentine cinema, but it's hard to believe a better movie has ever been made there.

One thing Americans should know is that this "foreign film with subtitles" is in no way, shape or form an "art movie" loaded with ambiguity and other hoity-toity stuff like that. This movie is the work of a master craftsman director working off a brilliant and intricate thriller script.

The narrative unfolds in interspersed scenes involving the same people, but 25 years apart. It's the same actors and characters, but youthful in some scenes and with wrinkles and gray hair in others.

The plot turns on the aftermath of a brutal rape and murder of a beautiful young wife. Front and center throughout the movie are Benjamin (Ricardo Darin), the passionate young investigator for whom this particular case is one he cannot set aside, and Irene (Soledad Villamil), his colleague (it was a little unclear to an American what their professional relationship was) who clearly is drawn to his passion and has feelings for him, even though she is engaged to someone else (offscreen).

Two shots must be discussed. First, there's THE shot. Anyone who has seen it will know exactly what I mean. It's a one-take (seemingly, but not really -- it would be impossible without CGI) tracking shot involving a chase in a packed soccer stadium. The second much-discussed shot is only about a minute long and happens in an elevator, but you will not breathe during that incredibly tense minute.

Lots of credit goes to the secondary actors, who portray a law clerk with a drinking problem, the perpetrator of the crime, a hapless intern, a weaselly judge and the devastated husband of the victim.

The ending is an elegantly shown series of reveals. The next-to-last sequence totally screws with your mind. I kid you not, it's a shocker and it comes out of nowhere. Then comes the grand finale with Benjamin and Irene in the touching end scene.

You will leave the theater simultaneously with a chill down your spine and a lump in your throat.

Senor Campabella, take a well-deserved bow.