In the second half of the film The Secret Agent (directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho), a group of neighbors in the same small apartment building gathers in the home of Dona Sebastiana (Tânia Maria) to say goodbye to a couple, Tereza Victória (Isabél Zuaa) and Antonio (Licínio Januário). The character we have known for most of the film as Marcelo (Wagner Moura) shares with the group his real name, Armando. Everyone in the room is using an alias, and Armando’s disclosure startles them and makes them nervous. Many of the residents live under death threats and cannot leave the complex at all. They have lived in close intimacy for months, but they are not ready to share their real names.
It is 1977 in Brazil, “a time of great mischief,” as the opening title card tells us. The mischief in question is the military dictatorship that governed Brazil from 1964 to 1985. In this context, corruption, violence, and confusion have seeped into every interaction and every level of society.
Mischief is a euphemism, of course, but it is also an apt description of the way corruption creates an environment of confusion and chaos. When Armando pulls into a gas station, the first thing he sees is a rotting corpse, which he learns has been sitting there for days, waiting for the police to come. When two military police officers arrive, the gas station attendant is hopeful he will finally get help. But the cops have no interest in the dead body—though they do force Armando out of the car and inspect every inch of it, without cause or explanation. Are they looking for something? Do they want the car? Money? They settle for a pack of cigarettes.
