Yet another in what seems to be an endless stream of European movies that equate coming of age with the discovery of a) sex, b) death, or, in the case of 'Secrets Of The Heart', both.
Nine year-old Javi (Erburu) and his older brother, Juan (Nagore), live with their aunts, ostensibly so they can attend the local school. During the holidays the brothers return to their village in the mountains, where slowly they discover there is more to the relationship between their mother and their uncle - and the tragic death of their father - than meets the eye.
Strong on atmosphere and with the almost inevitable solid turns from the underage leads, Armendariz's film ultimately suffers from its all too familiar subject, while the palpable sense of discovery becomes little more than a palpable sense of boredom.