Reality heightens The Secret Agent

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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. An onlooker in that scene, actor Wagner Moura as Armando shows quiet intensity, hiding emotions and reactions 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. A top actor from Brazil who first made awards circuit rounds years ago for his turn as Pablo Escobar in the Narcos series, Moura demonstrates both his diversity and skill in The Secret Agent. 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 scene. 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 an acceptance that fairy tale endings rarely exist in life.