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For the second year in a row, a Brazilian movie is a strong Oscar contender, including for best picture and best actor. The political thriller "The Secret Agent" is set during Brazil's military dictatorship in the northeastern city of Recife. NPR's Carrie Kahn went to that city and arrived in the middle of a celebration.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: It may be awards season in the U.S., but in Brazil, it's Carnival.
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KAHN: And the two are colliding here in downtown Recife. As bands play and dancers march, the crowd, decked out in bright blue and yellow costumes, bounce down a riverside boulevard following twirling, towering puppets.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Singing in non-English language).
KAHN: One depicts "The Secret Agent's" lead actor, another, its director, who hails from Recife. Brazilian movies are enjoying a moment, says reveler Amanda Olalquiaga (ph).
AMANDA OLALQUIAGA: Brazilian cinema is impressive. We have lots of really great movies. It's recognized inside the country, but it needs to be more recognized around the world.
KAHN: And it will be once we win all the Oscars, she says.
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KAHN: The head of Pitombeira, a local Carnival club, bets Brazil wins big, too. You can barely hear Herminho Neto's raspy voice above the packed crowd at his club's headquarters. Sales of its vintage bright yellow T-shirt, worn by lead actor Wagner Moura in the film, are soaring.
HERMINHO NETO: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "Our club is hot," he says in Portuguese, meaning it will bring good luck. Brazilians love a good competition, but many are also reveling in the props their northeastern city is getting so often overshadowed by famous Rio and Sao Paolo. Film historian and critic Ernesto Barros says Recife was once Brazil's cinema powerhouse and is now getting a reboot thanks to director Kleber Mendonca Filho, who embraces the city's grittiness and grace.
ERNESTO BARROS: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "The Brazil full of conflicts, social, cultural and political - Kleber's films show it all," he says. "The Secret Agent's" sprawling cast of characters, from misfits fleeing political persecution to those committing crimes, capture those tensions. There's even a farcical horror scene late in the movie featuring a Recife urban legend of a severed and homicidal hairy leg. Director Mendonca says he's frequently asked why he keeps filming in his hometown.
KLEBER MENDONCA FILHO: It's a crazy question. Nobody asks the wonderful Martin Scorsese, why New York again. This is the city where I come from, and I think I know where to put the camera.
KAHN: Much of the film is shot in downtown Recife, which tour guide Roderick Jordao highlights on his new three-hour "Secret Agent" tour.
RODERICK JORDAO: (Speaking Portuguese). Let's go.
KAHN: He says he's showing people the real downtown, which visitors don't get on other commercial tours.
JORDAO: They don't go to this area.
KAHN: The heart of it.
JORDAO: Yeah, exactly, because they don't want show the tourists this, but I don't care.
KAHN: A favorite stop is one of the last surviving movie houses in downtown Cinema São Luiz, which is also enjoying a renaissance with the movie's popularity.
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KAHN: Screenings of "The Secret Agent" have been packed. Local math teacher Nicolas Magalhaes (ph) says it felt like a love letter to Recife.
NICOLAS MAGALHAES: It's big. It shows our culture and the way we live. It's beautiful and can be valued by the world.
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KAHN: City officials say they will hold viewing parties on Oscar night.
Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Recife. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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