A Masterclass in storytelling
From director Kleber Mendonça Filho, comes his fourth feature film, The Secret Agent. A political thriller set during the restrictive military dictatorship in Brazil in 1977. The film has already won an onslaught of accolades this awards season. Most recently winning Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Annual Golden Globes with Wagner Moura taking the win for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, and making history as the first ever Brazilian man to be nominated for this award. This film also marked Moura’s return to Brazilian Cinema after 8 years, earning him international acclaim, and for good reason.
The film tells the story of a former professor named Armando Solimões (Wagner Moura) who travels back to his hometown of Recife to be with his son Fernando (Enzo Nunes), in hopes to flee the country from hitmen hired to kill him.
Within the first 20 minutes of the film, the scene and its colourful nature – both figuratively and literally – are set in place. In the midst of a city full of authoritarian oppression, and political strife, and a lack of concern for truly anything, there are lively stories of community and belonging, particularly as Armando arrives at the refuge with others a part of a resistance group. The heart of the story is held in the hands of the people living in this city trying to fight for themselves, under the guise of a neo-noir drama tackling the difficult reality of Brazil in this period of time.
You truly can feel the love that Kleber Mendonça Filho has for the city of Recife, (his own hometown) and how it bleeds from the screen. While the city becomes the unruly grounds for civil conflict it also serves as the beautiful backdrop of the story. There is a breathtaking shot of the city of Recife as Armando looks out a window; and a pause that allows audiences to reflect on the dichotomy of the events taking place, peering into a peaceful and calm Recife, amidst the chaos underneath.
His admiration for the city and filmmaking itself is also felt through the inclusion of true political moments in history throughout the film, more specifically the story about the leg that was found in a shark’s mouth; a direct reference to a piece that was run in the newspapers at the time as a means to deflect from real issues on police violence and homophobia. These stories are remembered by people who lived through them or know the history of Recife, and while they are lightly touched on in the film (covered in a more humorous tone), the way these scenes are able to bring us away from the true contention of the film, creates the same illusion of burying the truth under a narrative.
Moura is also brilliant in this film, and the recognition for his work is no short feat. He character is gentle amongst the turmoil, and lends to the emotional depth of the film and its softer moments.
There are so many layers to the movie, but there is not one moment in its almost 3 hour run time where it ever feels convoluted or disruptive. Everything in the film has its rhyme or reason. The Secret Agent is more or less a love letter to the city of Recife and ultimately a homage to filmmaking itself.
