Reality heightens The Secret Agent

Lead character Armando goes undercover in The Secret Agent, but not as a spy. An intellectual educator during Brazil’s 1970s military regime, Armando resembles a spy by changing his name and job but rather than provide information to others, he aims at saving both himself and his young son. Writer-director Kleber Mendonça Filho shows the situation’s grimness in an extended opening scene at an isolated gas station where a rotting corpse causes little consternation for the owner and police. With quiet intensity, actor Wagner Moura as Armando hides emotions from other characters while letting viewers see his underlying nature that values justice and humanity.  Throughout the film, Moura believably presents a calm outer image while subtlety revealing inner turmoil. Plotting shifts back and forth moving forward when years down the line, two young women listen to tapes that reveal Armando’s experiences getting help from an underground network Filho’s choice of naturalistic supporting players heightens these scenes

. The director also makes effective use of existing street locations for a suspenseful foot chase suited to an action adventure film. From that exciting point however, The Secret Agent goes back to its initial tone, leaving on a note of wistfulness that suits reality rather than superspy fantasy and sticks in the mind with quiet intensity.