Stories of political strife and resistance to authoritarianism often translate to good cinema, and “The Secret Agent” certainly does some things right. Unfortunately, this movie also feels insufficient in many areas.
Set in 1977 during the time of dictatorship by the military in Brazil, “The Secret Agent” centers on Armando, a former professor-turned refugee who goes by the alias Marcelo to avoid detection. Played by Wagner Moura, Armando is under threat both because of his refugee status, and due to someone having a vendetta against him.
The film follows how he tries to blend in by getting a job at a registration office, which brings him into a circle with a corrupt police chief, while he also attempts to reconnect with his son and plan an escape.
“The Secret Agent” gets off to a fantastic start. The film begins at a rural gas station with Armando is filling up his tank, and din the distance, there’s a dead body that’s been there for days. Right away, there’s a sense of unease. That this is a dangerous time, and that only picks up when police arrive and start questioning the protagonist.
It’s a scene quickly putting a viewer on edge. Therefore, it makes it a real shame that the rest of the movie never lives up to that level of engagement. What happens over the ensuing two and a half hours is a film that develops in a rather incoherent way, without ever being truly captivating again.
The incoherentness may have been purposely, to show the lack of transparency in a fascist regime, but it makes the experience of watching confusing and difficult to connect with. The film starts to feel meandering, and there’s little to tangibly be invested in.
While complex, it all feels disjointed, which makes the many sub plots feel mostly unconnected. As a result, the pressure of the state and severity of the situation doesn’t feel as impactful. There’s another issue, too, in that the threat of the state feels to be somewhat missing.
Yes, this does take place during an authoritarian regime. However, the fact is the protagonist is largely being pursued by bad actors because of a personal slight. It lessens the sense of the dictatorship having an impact on the life of a dissident, and instead makes it feel like a simpler man on the run story for a personal wronging.
That’s not inherently a bad thing, but in a movie that’s trying to portray the oppression of the time period, it ends up lacking that atmosphere. Now, in all fairness, there’s a good chance some things were lost in translation, in that I am not as familiar with the history.
See, the film was also trying to have satirical shots at Brazil and sought to incorporate comedic beats related to the time. Those didn’t land as much with yours truly, which could very well be a cultural difference and lack of knowledge related to the history of that time period.
It’s a tough situation for the film to be in when it comes to this review. As one can admire the attempt to comment on that section of history, but feelt hat it didn’t resonate. That’s even more true in this case, because “The Secret Agent” also boasts some really good filmmaking.
There is a large scope here in terms of what Brazil was like in that decade, with the flick having a great attention to detail. However, even some sequences that are well done didn’t really land. Fore example, there’s a section where the movie goes into the surreal in the second half, and it feels jarring. While there’s a charm in the scene itself, it doesn’t connect to the whole at large.
There’s also the case of the picture’s framing device, which also feels rather unnecessary. It’s a move that results in some scenes taking place in the present day. It’s understandable that director Kleber Mondonca Filho, who also wrote, wanted to bridge the past to the present, but it feels more tacked on rather than a true link from then to now.
Again, “The Secret Agent” is a well-made film, and it’s well acted to boot. Moura does deliver a solid performance as the film’s protagonist, and the supporting cast manage to round out the movie nicely. What they go through in the film often looks good, too.
However, as a total cinematic experience, “The Secret Agent” never really manages to fully grip the viewer for its two hour-plus runtime. Despite it having good technical aspects and some moving moments, it largely feels dry because of the execution. 2.75 out of 5.
Matthew Liedke on Film 