The harsh criticism that the director of The Secret Agent made to Globo soap operas

During the premiere of The Secret Agent, Kleber Mendonça Filho criticized Globo’s soap operas by rebutting comments that his films would be regional. The director explained that regional, in his opinion, are the Rio station’s serials.

“I never saw myself and considered myself as regional. I am part of Brazil. (…) Brazil needs to listen to itself more. There is a whole assembly of our country, which was an economic, political and cultural assembly, which gave a lot of strength to what is done in the Southeast”, he began.

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In conversation with the press, the veteran continued: “But I think cinema is a tool… television should already be like that, but unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. I think cinema runs much more freely, with more freedom.”

“My point of view is Brazilian, based in Recife, Pernambuco, so I don’t think it makes any sense to call anything that isn’t from the Southeast region regional. In fact, for me, regional were the Globo soap operas that I grew up watching. They were regional because they were set in Barra de Tijuca and I didn’t know what Barra da Tijuca was. It must be an interesting region”, added Kleber Mendonça Filho.

Kleber Mendonça Filho’s films before The Secret Agent

The comments suggesting that Kleber Mendonça Filho only make regional films occurred because, before The Secret Agent, which takes place in Recife, Pernambuco, he was responsible for films such as Aquarius (2016), which is also set in the capital of Pernambuco, and Bacurau (2019), which portrays a place that would be in the northeastern backlands and was recorded in Rio Grande do Norte.

The Secret Agent, chosen to represent Brazil at the Oscars and praised internationally, follows Marcelo (Wagner Moura), a technology expert who seeks to escape the past and returns to Recife looking for peace. Soon after, however, he realizes that he is far from finding refuge.