There’s a simmering tension in almost every scene in the new period political thriller THE SECRET AGENT from Brazil. It’s a feeling of dread hanging over every scene and every character, as thick as the heat everyone is battling in the story. It’s an extraordinarily tough time to be a regular citizen in Recife, the state capital of Pernambuco during Brazil’s Carnaval celebration in 1977. The city streets are teeming with celebrants and hordes of visitors from neighboring countries, not to mention corrupt politicos, military personnel, and regime henchmen looking to clear out any agitators not in line with the iron fist of the new military dictatorship.
If it feels like a timely commentary on what’s going on across our nation today, well, that will only make this film even more intriguing to USA audiences. Based on true events in South America in the late 1970s, THE SECRET AGENT stands as a searing commentary on oppression as well as a slow-burn thriller building palpable anxiety all the way through its expertly crafted 158 minutes. Written and directed by Kieber Mendoca Filho, the film is taut, tense and scary, but it’s also darkly humorous, a rollicking cat and mouse game, and one with a narrative not above throwing in some fantasy sequences to mix things up and keep us on edge even more. You never quite know what to expect while watching, a vibe that echoes with that of the main character who is trying to survive the occupation with his faculties intact.
That main character is Armando (Wagner Moura), a former teacher who worked against the country’s stifling military dictatorship and now is in hiding. He is trying to find shelter before safe passage out of the country and the story follows his journey as a fugitive. What he’s up against becomes readily apparent in the very first moments of the film as he stops for gas out in the mountainous outskirts of Recife and runs into numerous threats. The heat is unbearable, the gas station attendant is shifty and suspicious, and there is a dead body rotting in the sun that was once a political enemy of the state. A pack of hungry dogs keep trying to steal away parts of its body, and as if all of that isn’t bad enough, a police car is pulling up to ask questions.
Armando escapes that potential disaster and finds some solace in the city where’s he taken in by freedom fighter Dona Sebastiana (Tánia Maria). She’ll shelter Armando until a fake passport can be created for him, but in the meantime, he must share living space with others on the run, none of whom he knows. Could one of them be a plant? A turncoat? Armando cannot rest at any moment in this film, and thus, neither can we.
Filho fills in various blanks regarding Armando’s past via flashbacks, and yet as vivid as his plotting and narrative often are, it’s the general feeling that he brings to the project that gets under your skin. The heat is as much a character in the film as everyone walks around sweaty and beaten down by the burgeoning temperatures. Potential baddies jump in and out of frame throughout, even in the daytime scenes, lending every moment an uneasiness. And while Armando does his best to appear calm and collected, he’s afraid every second.
To make matters worse, a corrupt mob boss sends two assassins to town to hunt down Armando, and they’ve got to watch their backs too as the corrupt local police doesn’t respond well to such interlopers, even if they’re all technically in support of the dictatorship. It seems no one can be trusted and that any instance in the narrative can suddenly become one splattered with bloodshed. You’ll be glad that the filmmaker finds humor in a human leg that washes up on shore in the mouth of a dead tiger shark and comes back to life hopping around in a fantasy sequence. It’s absurd and morbid, true, but it does cut the tension for a few welcome minutes.
Moura gives a sharply observed, lived-in performance, and every setting in the story feels as lived-in too. The details throughout, from the costumes to the production design to the Panavision lensing, give it all a vivid sense of authenticity, almost as if it was all filmed during the 70s as well. Filho pulls a few rugs out from under us too in the third act, building to a number of clever climaxes, some more hopeful than others. It’s a very special film and it’s easy to see why it made its Midwest premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival last week, as well as it buzz that it will be the odds-on favorite to win Oscar’s Best International Feature Film next spring. You may recall that Brazil won that award last year as well for the sublime I’M STILL HERE starring Fernanda Torres.
Those two Brazilian films would make a great double bill someday. But for right now, THE SECRET AGENT is a must-see film as it rolls out across the nation and the international community.
