O Agente Secreto

I enjoyed this movie (despite its length, and I usually have a short attention span) and would like to see it again. It is an actors' film, full of great performances. The details of the period and locale seem perfect, it pulls you in. Friends who lived through the Brazilian dictatorship say this film captures the feeling of people disappearing for no reason, strange things happening without explanation.

There are quite a few important parts that I just don't understand, or maybe they are supposed to be open to interpretation.

The Secret Agent is more than just one of the great films of the year. It reflects the maturity of Brazilian cinema and the strength of a generation of filmmakers who have changed the way the country is viewed on the international stage. After the success of Walter Salles's I'm Still Here, which reignited Brazil's presence at the Oscars, the arrival of Kleber Mendonça Filho's new film is surrounded by expectations, comparisons, and challenges. And perhaps that is precisely why The Secret Agent is not a film that will please everyone - nor does it try to be.

Some may be frustrated by the slow pace, the prolonged silences, or the open ending. But it is precisely in these details that the beauty of The Secret Agent lies. Mendonça does not want to shock, he does not want to give everything away on a silver platter. He wants to provoke reflection, he wants the viewer to leave the theater still processing what they saw - and what they felt. The discomfort the film causes is not a flaw; it is language.

What we see here is mature Brazilian cinema, bold and aware of its importance. A film that looks to the past without becoming hostage to nostalgia, and that speaks about the present without needing to shout. O Agente Secreto is a deep dive into the history and soul of a country that is still trying to understand itself. It is a work that requires patience, but rewards it with intensity.

In the end, what Kleber Mendonça Filho delivers is a film about memory, resistance, and belonging. A portrait of a man trying to escape himself, and of a country trying to forget what cannot be forgotten. With precise direction, an engaging script, and remarkable performances, O Agente Secreto is undoubtedly one of the great milestones of recent Brazilian cinema.

The film has a Brazilian setting, not the stylized Brazilian setting, but one that makes you feel you actually know those people. In truth, the entire film gives this feeling.

It is a work that seems to be something you recognize. The way people speak, the "villains", everything is so symmetrically believable that the tension establishes itself naturally. The story does not deal with big points, it is the story of one person. Perhaps of many.

In this sense, the work is characterized by the characters, and all are very well realized and acted. Even though in certain moments scenes are prolonged in order to show these characters, as occurs throughout the film. Although time passes quickly while watching the film, it has many scenes that seem to serve only to extend the length of the work.

Even with its excesses, one of the greats of Brazilian cinema.

"The Secret Agent" is a film I just saw at the Philadelphia Film Festival. Before I talk about the plot, I must warn you....this is NOT a film for kids or for those turned off by violence. The film features some brutal murders near the end and the story is certainly depressing...as it should be.

The story is set in Brazil in the 1970s. The nation had been under a military dictatorship since 1964 and the police in the film are uniformly shown to be evil. One of the people the police are looking for a man who you learn has done NOTHING illegal...he just got on the wrong side of a well-connected and evil man. So, much of the film consists of him hiding as well as various evil scum looking to kill him.

Is this a recipe for a fun film? Certainly not! But it is very well made and teaches us about a period in history we might not know much about and should! Well made and a sad film that might leave you feeling a bit drained by the time it's completed.

I finally saw (for me) the most anticipated film of the year, Kleber Mendonça's best-and I like them all. Despite having read about it and seen the trailers, the film still surprised me. The final scenes moved me, something I hadn't experienced with his other films. Wagner Moura has an absurd, magnetic stage presence. Unpredictable, funny, disconcerting, and moving, The Secret Agent manages to convey the Brazilian soul on screen-quite a feat. All the countless characters are rich, captivating. A masterpiece, worthy of all the awards it has received and may yet receive.