The Secret Agent
O agente secreto
It is the 1970s in Brazil. A carnival in Recife is under way. Scorched by the sun, the city is being consumed by mass madness: people get killed in a dancing frenzy, a shark with a human leg in its stomach is found on a beach, and there are two assassins with a secret mission hiding among the people. The colours and the joy are just appearances - this is a time of a brutal military dictatorship. Marcelo, a law-abiding citizen, accidentally gets caught up in a network of political and criminal conspiracy that goes all the way up to the government. He is now targeted by the corrupt system, and every step he takes can be his last. The film pays homage to the films by Sergio Leone, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford Coppola. It combines social subplots with an epic scheme of things, humour with sex appeal, and nostalgia with horror - and does it with bravado.
- Directed by: Kleber Mendonça Filho
- Screenplay: Kleber Mendonça Filho
- Photography: Evgenia Alexandrova
- Music: Tomaz Alves Souza, Mateus Alves
- Production Design: Thales Junqueira
- Costume Design: Rita Azevedo
- Editing: Eduardo Serrano, Matheus Farias
- Cast: Wagner Moura, Carlos Francisco, Tânia Maria, Robério Diógenes, Alice Carvalho, Gabriel Leone, Maria Fernanda Cândido, Udo Kier
A film director, screenwriter, and producer from Brazil. He is considered to be one of the most important representatives of contemporary cinema from Latin America. He gained international popularity with such films as ‘Neighboring Sounds’ (2012), ‘Aquarius’ (2016), and ‘Bacurau’ (2019), which were screened and awarded at the most prestigious film festivals around the world. In his film work, he combines socially- and politically-oriented cinema with genre cinema, exploring the topics of memory, inequalities, and changes happening in contemporary Brazil. His films feature a distinctive visual style and strong social commitment.
