My name is Kleber Mendonça Filho and I wrote and directed “The Secret Agent.” This sequence takes place in 1977 and comes quite late in the film. I knew it would be an important sequence for “The Secret Agent,” because this is where we finally get to spend some time with the people staying in Sebastiana's building, and it was always going to be a challenging sequence from a writing standpoint and also a shooting one. Then we have Isabél Zuaa playing Tereza Victória. We have Licínio Januário, who plays her husband. Hermila Guedes plays Claudia. João Vitor Silva plays Haroldo. Tânia Maria, of course, who plays Doña Sebastiana. We have Lula Terra and also Gal, who is asleep, and we have Robson, who plays Clóvis. The whole sequence was incredibly challenging because we had one night. This is a night session. We filmed from 7 pm to 4:30 am and my biggest concern was not being able to do justice to each and every character and honor them, because I love each and every one of these characters. And also these actors. And with two cameras, Panavision anamorphic lenses, three microphones, about 30 crew members, three dogs and a cat. We had a lot to do, not only in terms of shots, but also dramatically because the sequence starts very cheerful and then progresses to a change in the atmosphere of the room. But I think the whole sequence works thanks to the great acting and also the great affection that is transmitted in the text. Wagner's character adopts a “why not, what the hell” attitude to hide his name. He just reveals who he is and that has an effect on his friends. Licínio always very skeptical like Antonio, Tereza Victória's husband in the film. They are from Angola. And little by little we are adding new layers of meaning in terms of what it means to get ahead in an authoritarian regime, in a situation where you are under threat. [TELEPHONE RINGING] The phone, the way it sounds, we mix it a little louder than it probably would sound. In the background is Nadia Comaneci, the great Romanian gymnast, with Wagner. And this is when Sebastiana really shows how much she cares about these people. In fact, he says: I don't want you to feel sad. Let me show you my little museum. And I think this moment really opens a new window into the movie because now we realize that Sebastiana herself has a history in another country and has been through a lot in life, like everyone else in the movie and like all of these characters. I never really wanted to do this sequence in handheld mode. I always thought it should be exactly what it looks like: very precise, well-composed shots. I really wanted the actors and characters to live within the frame without any additional energy coming from the camera itself and the Panavision aspect ratio. I actually think it's amazing to get people into the frame. And Gal, little Gal, was supposed to have some lines in the movie, but she was really sleepy and I thought, let her sleep. And then at some point I asked Evgenia if we could take some photos of her sleeping. And sure enough, when we were editing the sequence, we saw her sleeping and I think it's a beautiful way to end the sequence. In fact, he is sleeping and perhaps dreams of a better Brazil.
