The Secret Agent

This is not a conventional secret agent as the main character does not work for any government,  doesn't carry a gun and basically just wants to get safely out of the country with his son.  Armando apparently had a patent and somebody was upset with his lack of co-operation.  At this time Brazil was under a dictatorship with lots of corruption.   

We are shown him in an argument with some arrogant business men who are trying to force some co-operation from him.   When his wife who is of mixed race became outspoken the corporate men told Armando to manage his woman.  Then she became really upset and stomped away.  At another point we learned that Armando was the result of a rich son, about 16 who impregnated a servant girl.  The baby, him, was taken in by the wealthy family and the girl discarded.

Gangsters got involved and were directed to kill him.  He fled to Recife. where he seeks refuge among political dissidents including from the Angolan Civil War.  The basic story is of him escaping harm.  He was looking for some documentation of his mother and spent hours checking through archives where he worked in the Identity Card Office.

To get all the attention this film richly deserves takes a lot of talented people.  Here are some of them. 

Kleber Medonca Filho was the director, writer and producer.  He was raised in Recife and gathered information and photos that were used in some of his earliest films.  He graduated as a journalist and did film reviews as well as journalism.  Kleber has 23 directing credits, 19 for writing and 13 for editing including "Neighboring Sounds" (2012) and "Aquarius" (2016). 

The composing was done by the team of Mateus Alves and Tomaz Alves Souza.  They have worked together on several films and won some awards.

Evgenia Alexandrova was the cinematographer.  Born in Russia she studied business management at the St. Petersburg State University and then went to Paris, France for more advanced study.  She has 38 cinematography credits, 5 for the camera & electrical department and 2 for directing.

Matheus Farias was the editor.  He has 50 editorial department credits. 20 for editor  and 6 for directing.

Emilie Lesclaux was another producer.  She has 17 producing credits and 2 for acting including "Neighboring Sounds" (2012).  She has been married to Kliber and they have two children.

Wagner Moura played Armando.  He also graduated in journalism.  He was sought to play Pablo Escobar   in "Narcos" (2015) and had to learn Spanish.  He is a vocalist for a band.  Wagner has 56 acting credits, 5 as producer and 2 for directing including "The VIPs (2010), "Trash" (2014) and "Narcos" (2015-16).  see http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/10/trash-movie-from-brazil.html

Alice Carvalho played Fatima.  She has 14 acting credits, 4 for writing and 2 for directing.

Udo Kier played a Holocaust survivor mistaken for a Nazi refugee.  When he was born in Koln, Germany near the end of WWII the hospital was bombed and he and his mother had to be lifted out of rubble.  Took part in a music video with Madonna.  He moved to London to learn English.  He has 278 acting credits including "Melancholia" (2011).

Gabriel Leone played another bad guy (there were lot of them).  He has 25 acting credits, 1 for the music department and 2 for dubbing including "Ferrari" (2023).

This film was heavily awarded at the Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Globe Awards and some others.

I was able to get a copy from my local library which had some interesting special features.  Probably sooner or later it will be available on streaming services.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of a film I have seen.  Not necessarily a recommendation, but generally good to above average.