The Secret Agent, a Brazilian movie that just opened in theaters throughout Israel, is an odd mixture of genres: It’s a political thriller with more than a touch of noir and even has some horror elements.
Imagine if Quentin Tarantino collaborated with Elio Petri, who made the iconic film Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, or with Alan J. Pakula, known for All the President’s Men and The Parallax View, along with any of the dozens of directors who made slasher and horror films for Roger Corman, and you’ll get an idea of what The Secret Agent is like.
Some of it works, some of it doesn’t, but most of it is suspenseful, and at times it’s moving.
Director Kleber Mendonca Filho never lets you forget the menace that is lurking around every corner. It’s no accident that the movie that The Secret Agent references most directly is the Steven Spielberg classic Jaws, which is showing at a theater where much of the action takes place. Early on, there is even a scene where a shark that has been found on the beach in Recife turns out to contain a human leg, a leg that takes a key role in the plot.
But dread and scares don’t mean much if you don’t have a hero to care about, and the movie presents an extremely winning protagonist, Armando (Wagner Moura).
'A time of great mischief'
An opening title says that the film takes place in Brazil in 1977, during “a time of great mischief,” which turns out to be a playful understatement.
In the opening scene, Armando drives up to a gas station on a remote road on a hot day, only to find a corpse lying there. The gas station attendant tells him it’s no big deal, the guy was robbing the place, and another attendant shot him; the police say they will only come by after the carnival celebrations, which are currently in progress, are over.
Just then, the police show up, but it turns out they aren’t interested in the corpse at all, but have come because Armando, in his yellow beetle, has aroused their suspicions. Armando is affable and follows all their instructions, until they openly try to extort money from him. Smiling, he says he is all out of cash but hands them a pack of cigarettes.
From that opening scene, Moura, in an incredibly appealing performance, shows us that Armando is a man on the run who must be careful with every word and action. It also situates the story in a place of extreme corruption, where life is cheap, and cops are on the take and can’t even be bothered to investigate a killing when they are standing right next to the corpse.
The movie takes its time explaining exactly why he is on the run. When he arrives in Recife, he meets up with an elderly woman (Tania Maria) with a lot of personality who runs an apartment building full of “refugees,” although it’s not till nearly the last third that we fully understand how they have ended up there.
A new identity has been created for him, and it’s ironic that, under the fake name Marcelo, he goes to work in a government office that issues identity cards.
Cops as corrupt and evil as the ones Armando encountered on the road are all over Recife, and two hit men are hired in São Paulo and sent to kill him. The cops and the hit men are all a bit clownish, teasing each other and tossing off quips, but they are also deadly, and they all spend a lot of time tossing bodies and body parts into the river.
We learn that Armando has come to Recife because he has a son, Fernando (Enzo Nunes), who is being raised by his maternal grandparents, following the death of Armando’s wife, Fatima (Alice Carvalho), who is seen in flashbacks.
Fernando is obsessed with Jaws, although is clearly too young to see it. Asking Armando why he can’t watch the movie, his grandfather (Carlos Francisco) says, “Because it will give you nightmares.” The boy replies, “But I already have nightmares.”
This exchange encapsulates the movie’s themes perfectly: Everyone feels a sense of dread in this society, and knowing just who or what is after you will not make you feel any better – or worse.
As we learn more about an industrialist with a grudge against Armando, we find out that this young man was once the head of a university research department who had patented certain inventions. This emphasizes just how deeply every sector is morally compromised. While there are some allies who seek to rescue Armando, the forces working against him are so much more powerful that every moment becomes scary, and you start waiting for the final showdown to begin.
Interspersed with the 1977 story are scenes with contemporary history students looking into Armando’s story. I wasn’t sure what these scenes, which are so antiseptic and earnest compared to the quip-laden gorefests throughout the rest of the film, were meant to add, except possibly to give a sense that the earlier characters’ struggles were not in vain.
MOURA DOES so little to get us on his side immediately that it’s a remarkable performance, and I can see why he won a Golden Globe. You believe he is one of the last honest men in Brazil, even as you are aware of his flaws.
The supporting cast is full of quirky, memorable actors, and Carlos Francisco is particularly good as his trustworthy father-in-law. The film features Udo Kier’s final performance, in which he plays a Holocaust survivor the vile corrupt cops torment.
The movie meanders a bit, and it really didn’t need 160 minutes to tell this story. It joins a long list of films these days with serious aspirations that go way over the two-hour mark.
But it’s a gripping movie, one that gives a real sense of Brazil during this period, even as the Tarantino-esque elements give it a more universal feel.