Movie Review: The Secret Agent (O Agente Secreto)

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A+

A fantastic political thriller from Brazil. 

This film tells the story of a man who in 1977 Brazil goes back to his hometown of Recife only to discover that it has changed for the worse, turning him into a political refuge. 

As this movie starts, we are quite unsure of who this character is as well as his past. Yet the opening sequence sets up a real sense of dread. We open with our main character pulling into a gas station where a dead body is lying outside because the cops haven't come around to pick it up yet (though it has been there for days). When we see the cops finally come, they do nothing about the dead body but instead search the car of our main character, despite his various objections. This is a perfect opening. It tells us little of anything, yet it pulls us in and intrigues us automatically. This is an opening scene that will stay with me for a good while. The film slowly reveals what is going on, a little at a time. This type of storytelling can be dangerous because it can either come off as intriguing or boring. However here it works perfectly. That is because the excellent filmmaking and well written script make it incredibly compelling, even before we fully figure out what is going on. The whole film is fully of beautiful looking shots and very intelligent dialogue. The musical score is also excellent and lends much to the sense of atmosphere. Meanwhile each reveal is fully worth waiting for as each one is very smart and makes what came before even more effective. The movie also gets more intense as it goes along with a climax that is very exciting and disturbing. 

I am keeping this review short as to not give away too much. However, I give it my highest recommendation. 



 

Movie Review: Double Dad (Um Pai no Meio do Caminho)

 Michael's Movie Grade: B

An irresistibly charming family movie from Brazil.

The greatest appeal of this movie is our main character. In lesser hands this character could have easily come off as cloying. However this movie does not leave this character in lesser hands. This character is not only adorable, but is naturally and effortlessly so. Much of this is due to a script that truly make her incredible likable. Still the main ingredient in pulling this character off is an excellent performance by Maisa Silva. This performance completely captures of the child like joy of this character. Though comedy ideas like her not knowing what an escalator or an elevator are, have been used in plenty of movies, seeing it through the eyes of this character makes them work. The humor in these scenes does not come from her naiveté but from her joy at discovering a whole new world. Instead of laugh at her (like many other movies would have us do), we simply enjoy seeing this lovable character on her first real adventure. Just as charming as the character herself is her relationships with her two 

possible fathers (the story involves her not knowing who her dad is but believing it must be one of two men). These relationships feel completely fleshed out and you perfectly believe in how these two men grow to love her so fast. You truly grow to hope each perspective "dad" is her real father when you see them with her. Her own romance is also quite charming and believable. 

To be fair this movie does have its faults. Certain plot points do feel rather forced and most of the time you know completely where this film is going. 

If you want to see this charming movie, it premiered on Netflix just a few days ago. 

Movie Review: Nothing to Lose 2 (Nada a Perder 2)

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

An intelligent and moving Christian drama from Brazil.

This movie is based off a true story, however I must admit I have not much knowledge of the true story. Therefore I can not judge this movie on how truthful it is or if the Universal Church is the same as is shown here. I know that this movie was self financed by the man it was about, so there may be a little biased, then again he may just want to tell his story to inspire others. I truly don't know. However as someone who likes to believe in the good in people and as a Christian myself, I prefer to believe the latter. Still I am not here to talk about this movie as a historical document but rather as a film and as I film I felt it was fantastic.

This is a very moving and inspiring drama. It is about a man who is unjustly persecuted and feels the whole weight of the world on him. What makes this work so well is that the majority of the movie serves as a character study. The character is fascinating and very relatable. Despite being a man of faith he struggles with his persecution the way that many of us would. At one point he states that if he didn't know God, he might have killed himself. It is hard not to feel an emotional connection for this man. This is helped by a framing device of him being interviewed for the book this film was based on. When we first see him, we see him as an older man secure in his faith and with the ability to joke about the trails in the past. This is in sharp contrast to him as a younger man who struggles with his faith and could never even think about joking about the trials he is going trough. This contrast shows how much he has grown as a person and gives a sense of hopefulness in the films most hopeless moments. Because of this we get a feeling that we will make it trough whatever trials we are going through right now and will one day laugh about it. The story itself is told in a very straightforward and human fashion that never once talks down to its audience. This is not a film that is pandering to Christians but rather a very good film made by Christians.

-Michael J. Ruhland