With the way timing and availability worked out, it just so happened that I watched all three of the international features on my list in a row. I thought The Secret Agent was well-made, although I can tell there are some nuances I wasn’t getting.
In 1977, Armando sneaks back into his hometown. He wound up on the wrong side of a powerful person, and now his life is in danger. He’s staying in an apartment building filled with people in similar situations, biding their time until they can get out of Brazil with new passports under assumed names.
The Secret Agent is up for four Oscars, including Best International Feature, Best Picture, and Best Leading Actor. It’s a political thriller that feels slow at times, action-packed at others. I thought that made it a little hard to get into the rhythm of it, and at over two-and-a-half hours, I definitely felt its length. I also think I’d have gotten more out of it if I knew more about this period in Brazilian history under the military dictatorship—I could follow the story all right, but I recognized my position as an American dumbass who was watching it on more of a surface level.
That said, I still enjoyed it. I love Dona Sebastiana, the little old lady who runs the apartment refuge. She takes zero prisoners and does whatever needs to be done, but she also will try to hook Armando up with the attractive woman who lives above him. Armando’s relationship with his young son Fernando is quite affecting. Fernando’s been living with his maternal grandparents since his mom died and his dad’s been in hiding. He’s obsessed with wanting to see Jaws, despite everyone pointing out it’s going to give him nightmares, and there’s nothing he wants more than to be with his dad. Additionally, there are some great suspenseful sequences and an absolutely wild attempted hit.
Wagner Moura is the only actor I’m familiar with here, and of course, he got the Best Leading Actor nomination. Needless to say, Armando is a very different character than Pablo Escobar in Narcos, and Moura does a lovely, understated job as an ordinary man who’s been thrust into an extraordinary situation.
Warnings
Violence, disturbing images, sexual content, language, drinking/smoking, and strong thematic elements.
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