The Secret Agent

Being nominated for the Oscar for Best International Feature doesn't guarantee that a film is good. Politics, campaigns and plenty of interests that don't always have to do with quality also play a part in those awards. But in this case, the nomination is perfectly justified. The Secret Agent is very well made, and you can tell from the start. It has personality, it's carefully crafted, and it manages to draw you into its world little by little without having to explain everything.

The film takes us to Brazil in 1977, still under the military dictatorship. Marcelo arrives in Recife trying to leave something of his past behind and go unnoticed for a while. But it soon becomes clear that, in a country shot through with corruption, surveillance and the interests of those in charge, hiding is not so easy.

Wagner Moura is magnificent. His character lives in a permanent state of alert, measuring his words and watching the people around him. He doesn't need to keep explaining his fear because you can feel it in his body, in his silences and in the way he enters every space without knowing who might be watching him.

The film is not a conventional espionage thriller. There are chases, secrets, violence and people operating from the shadows, but Kleber Mendonça Filho doesn't structure the story as a simple race toward a final revelation. He is more interested in building a world, showing its connections and showing us how a threat can infiltrate everyday life.

Recife becomes another character. The streets, the buildings, the cinemas, the offices, the bars and the atmosphere of carnival make up a setting full of life, but also of danger. The city can seem cheerful and chaotic while, underneath, fear and repression circulate.

The production design is extraordinary. The recreation of the seventies doesn't feel like an exhibition of old objects or a succession of cars, clothes and posters placed there so we can admire the budget. Everything is part of the story and makes us feel that the characters truly belong to that era.

It is also very well photographed. The film plays with colors, textures and darkness without turning the past into a clean or idealized image. There is sweat, noise, dirt and a constant feeling that something could happen behind any door.

The direction maintains a very difficult balance between suspense, political drama, strange humor and some moments that come close to horror. The film can go from an apparently harmless conversation to a disturbing situation without warning. That change of tone reflects well a world in which the absurd and the terrible live side by side.

The supporting cast is full of characters who leave a mark, even when they appear only briefly. They all seem to have a previous story and a particular relationship with that system. There are those who help, those who keep quiet, those who survive by adapting, and those who use corruption to get rich or to eliminate their enemies.

The film talks about the dictatorship, but also about how power can act without needing to show itself directly. You don't always need a uniform or an official order. Businessmen, police officers, civil servants or killers who understand which interests they must protect are enough.

Its structure may seem scattered at times. Different threads, memories, characters and small detours appear that take a while to reveal their importance. But that apparent disorder is part of the film. It is building a web in which personal life, political violence and memory end up connected.

There is also an enormous passion for cinema. The cinemas of Recife, the films being screened and the way images are used speak of a world that is also disappearing. The destruction of historical memory is linked to the disappearance of the places where a society kept and shared its stories.

Perhaps its running time and its winding way of telling the story demand a certain patience. It doesn't hand over all the answers immediately, nor does it arrange every element so the viewer can understand it effortlessly. It trusts that we can observe, remember and fill in some of the gaps.

That trust is appreciated. The Secret Agent doesn't use the dictatorship as mere decoration, nor does it turn the past into a school lesson. It makes it a living experience, full of characters, contradictions, fear and resistance.

It is a film with excellent actors, magnificent direction and an impressive production. But above all, it has something that many historical films fail to achieve: it makes a vanished time feel still present.

Very good. A story about the corruption and violence of a country, but also about memory and about everything that never completely disappears.