GoKawiilThe Secret Agent, Brazil's Oscar entry for Best International Feature Film, is a visually subversive political thriller. The film was shot on location in Brazil using bright, saturated colors by cinematographer Evgenia Alexandrova, AFC as a counterpoint to the dark, terrifying subject matter, proceeding as a slow burn.
Set in 1977, during the final years of Brazil's military dictatorship, The Secret Agent follows Marcelo (Wagner Moura), a former teacher and tech expert, on the run in Recife during Carnival week. Hoping to reunite with his son, Marcelo is targeted as a political dissident and forced into hiding while confronting his secret past.
Top and above: Wagner Moura as Marcelo Alves in 'The Secret Agent,' shot by Evgenia Alexandrova, AFC.
Capturing a Brazil of Contradictions
"The film is about Brazil's dichotomous, yet multilayered culture," says Alexandrova, who was born in USSR, grew up in Russia and previously shot the Brazilian film Heartless. "Brazil is such an internally conflicted country, but has such a wild mixture of very different people who are forced to live together and somehow create their own identity. It's a very joyful, colorful, musical, rhythmic, tasty, warm country, but there's another side to it, which is all of this misery, wealth discrepancy and banditry. We tend to believe that misery happens to others — that it's some other people who suffer or die. But the bell can ring for any of us every day.
"I really wanted to capture this contradiction in my imagery," the cinematographer continues. "I also found it rich that there are some extra scenes that do not move us forward in the storyline, but serve to create the world in which the film exists.”
Alexandrova behind the Arri Alexa 35, which served as the production's primary camera.
Camera, Lenses and LUTs
Alexandrova shot The Secret Agent with Arri's Alexa 35 — predominantly paired with vintage Panavision B Series anamorphic lenses — to help capture the setting's eye-popping colors and highlights. Serving as her own camera operator, she shot at nearly 360 degrees during much of the production.
“I like images that are dynamic and contain a lot of character, with some slightly overexposed and underexposed parts,” she says. “And [our lenses] offered a lot of character in the sense that they're imperfect; they have a lot of aberrations, so if I had blown-up windows in the frame, they would create a really big halo and a really big flare. We also used Panavision zooms where there is a contour line that has aberrations. It was something that Kleber and I found charming.”
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