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'The Secret Agent': Exploring a Vibrant, yet Violent Brazil (2025)

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61–70 of 98 posts

Re: 'The Secret Agent': Exploring a Vibrant, yet Violent Brazil (2025)

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did too. It felt like there were a bunch of subplots that never ended up tying together. The leg was the most disappointing to me. My take home at the end was that it was supposed to show the audience that the story was recreated from the parts of the story that could be pieced together by the future journalists. Basically it felt meandering because it was meandering to the journalists trying to figure out what hap…

The leg is used both as a urban legend that was told at the region at the time, but also as a metaphor. The surrealist scene where it shows the leg brutally attacking people at night: all the people attacked are prostitutes, gays, etc. People that during the dictatorship the police used to just dissappear, and society turned a blind eye to it. And it is meant to feel meandering cause that is how this period feels for…

> People that during the dictatorship the police used to just dissappear, and society turned a blind eye to it.

Reminds me of something.

Re: 'The Secret Agent': Exploring a Vibrant, yet Violent Brazil (2025)

#62

I watched both The Secret Agent and One Battle After Another (didn’t see any of the other nominees). For me, The Secret Agent was definitely better.

I wonder how many in the Academy actually watched The Secret Agent. I've heard before that a lot don't watch all the movies before making their picks.

Starting this year, an academy member was required to watch all films in a category in order to vote on that category. I’m sure compliance was not perfect, but it seems a much better process than the honor system.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2025...

Re: 'The Secret Agent': Exploring a Vibrant, yet Violent Brazil (2025)

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how many in the Academy actually watched The Secret Agent. I've heard before that a lot don't watch all the movies before making their picks.

Starting this year, an academy member was required to watch all films in a category in order to vote on that category. I’m sure compliance was not perfect, but it seems a much better process than the honor system. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2025...

Good to know!

Re: 'The Secret Agent': Exploring a Vibrant, yet Violent Brazil (2025)

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did too. It felt like there were a bunch of subplots that never ended up tying together. The leg was the most disappointing to me. My take home at the end was that it was supposed to show the audience that the story was recreated from the parts of the story that could be pieced together by the future journalists. Basically it felt meandering because it was meandering to the journalists trying to figure out what hap…

The leg is used both as a urban legend that was told at the region at the time, but also as a metaphor. The surrealist scene where it shows the leg brutally attacking people at night: all the people attacked are prostitutes, gays, etc. People that during the dictatorship the police used to just dissappear, and society turned a blind eye to it. And it is meant to feel meandering cause that is how this period feels for…

>The leg is used both as a urban legend that was told at the region at the time, but also as a metaphor. The surrealist scene where it shows the leg brutally attacking people at night: all the people attacked are prostitutes, gays, etc. People that during the dictatorship the police used to just dissappear, and society turned a blind eye to it.

Yeah, so I had to lookup the leg after watching the movie. My interpretation was that it wasn't actually really surrealism. They juxtapose that scene with the lady reading from the newspaper about the attacking leg as if it was real. The reason I think this supports the "from the future journalist's perspective" interpretation is that those were legitimate articles ran, while there were serious cases not being reported on things like people going missing by the dictatorship. I think they included it to show the absurdity of what information was available and what information wasn't in the papers from that time. Also because of the lore of it all.

Re: 'The Secret Agent': Exploring a Vibrant, yet Violent Brazil (2025)

#65

Secret Agent has a slow, difficult beginning (~hour). Not much happens. And it's not clear why what's happening is happening, particularly for someone unfamiliar with Brazil's political climate in the 1970s. As someone who's never been to Brazil, certainly not in the 1970s, watching Secret Agent still felt like being transported there. How did they make a movie that makes you feel like you're in a familiar place you'…

> Secret Agent has a slow, difficult beginning (~hour). Not much happens. And it's not clear why what's happening is happening, particularly for someone unfamiliar with Brazil's political climate in the 1970s.

That's very much the director's philosophy. He values the dead time between things. I saw him talk years ago. He's a bit of an intelectual. Very competent too. I haven't watched Secret Agent yet though.

Beto Brant is another Brazilian director. He is phenomenal. Also artsy but his films usually work on a more traditional level as well. They're more satisfying. I highly recommend him -- particularly "O Invasor", "Ação Entre Amigos" and "Crime Delicado".

Re: 'The Secret Agent': Exploring a Vibrant, yet Violent Brazil (2025)

#66
That movie was an absolute snooze-fest—way too slow and dull. I actually went to the theater with high hopes, but 15 minutes in, I felt like scrubbing the toilet would’ve been more fun. It’s a shame Brazilian cinema is so stuck on such a tired trope like the dictatorship era. Enough already. That’s a oranje that’s been squeezed dry. But I wouldn't bet against another one popping up this year... At least I won't make the mistake of wasting my money and time on the same old cinematic garbage again.

Re: 'The Secret Agent': Exploring a Vibrant, yet Violent Brazil (2025)

#67
post #39

I've had the privilege to watch it at São Luis movie theater in Recife. The place is really a character of the movie. The theater was at full capacity. 10% of the public was with a yellow t-shirt that Wagner Moura uses for 10s :-) I forgot how good it was to see movies in a theater. Everybody laughed or clapped together. I've never more seen a movie with so much popular appeal. People seeing their lives and history i…

[flagged]

Re: 'The Secret Agent': Exploring a Vibrant, yet Violent Brazil (2025)

#69
It is a shame, but culturally Brazil can't let the 60's go.

Americans may complain about their boomers, but American boomers can't handle a candle to the obstinate grip Brasilian boomers have on the brazilian imaginarium and culture.

Imagine if every single hollywood movie done nowadays was kind of a pastiche of Antonioni's Blow Up, and if the Grateful Dead were the great gatekeepers of popular culture. Every single new cultural movement either paid homage to their style and their culture or run the risk of being discarded. In a certain way, that's how Brazilian culture works. Add the fact that culture is highly politicized, because a big part of it needs to be financed by the state and you have the perfect recipe for movies like "The Secret Agent".

There's also a certain societal expectation that for being considered part of the elite you need to be thoroughly versed on the political and cultural dynamics of the period. If you are a Brazilian you won't criticize those productions, lest you be seen as the brazilian version of the "deplorables", and you don't want to do it in your urban professional upper middle classe environment.

And this lead us to another very common issue. As being well versed on the vicissitudes and cultural zeitgeist of the period is seen as an elite signal, th stories will always be hard to understand for the non-initiated. And this is almost proposital, a certain manner of gatekeeping, because, while brazilian cinema wants to make as much money as American cinema, it absolutely abhors the idea of not being sophisticated, full of hermetic references for the non-conoisseur.

Watch the other comments on this thread. International audiences feels lost, while the Brazilians keep playing softball amongst them while exchanging their precious references that nobody else knows, including most brazilian not privileged enough to have had money to do their basic education on expensive private schools and then conclude their education for free on high quality publi universities.

Re: 'The Secret Agent': Exploring a Vibrant, yet Violent Brazil (2025)

#70
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What on earth is a AAA film?

The whole single A, triple A thing comes from league baseball. Single A was the lower leagues and AAA is the top of the heap pro ball. AAA denotes big budget tent pole productions. So big a studio could go bankrupt if it doesn't do well.

it's actually from credit ratings which predate baseball leagues
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