The Political Dialogue That Unites ‘The Secret Agent’ and ‘One Battle After Another

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In their analysis for Midia Ninja, Leandro Marinho and Victor Hugo Fiuza observe that this year’s Oscar-nominated films, though seemingly disparate, share thematic concerns about contemporary society. They cite Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent and Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another as examples of films that evoke a 1970s cinematic style to explore modern political anxieties. Although not set in the 1970s, Anderson’s film channels the decade’s political tension and paranoia, interpreting uncertain times through its unique style. Both films share a nostalgic quality that acknowledges cinema’s power to interpret the world, though their approaches differ. The Secret Agent treats cinema as a preserver of history and shared experiences, a sensitive archive of cultural memory. One Battle After Another, in contrast, emphasizes spectacle and its own cinematic language over direct political implications. In the Brazilian film, cinema is woven into history through viewing rooms, film projections, and communal viewing experiences. Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) appears as both a cinephile reference and an allegory for Brazil’s civil-military dictatorship. Anderson’s film focuses more on formal elements, like editing, choreographed action, and controlled staging, to generate humor.

The humor in One Battle After Another is sharp satire, creating distance as the director highlights ironies. The comedy arises not from the characters’ experiences themselves, but from the director’s detached perspective. The Secret Agent, however, finds humor within the reality of everyday life—in unexpected situations and the simple joy of observing people, even flawed individuals. The director treats each character with respectful curiosity, which amplifies the story’s impact. The Secret Agent and One Battle After Another also diverge in their treatment of politics, memory, and history. In The Secret Agent, memories function as fragmented clues, revealing history through gaps, silences, and haunting images that reflect the enduring impact of the Brazilian dictatorship. The film employs incomplete characters, broken narratives, and urban myths to depict a society marked by death and societal amnesia.

Exploring Political Identity and Cinematic Perspectives: A Comparative Study of ‘One Battle After Another’ and ‘The Secret Agent

One Battle After Another addresses political radicalism and militancy, questioning the consequences of personal engagement and how deeply embracing a cause shapes individual identity. The characters Bob Ferguson, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and Perfidia Beverly Hills, played by Teyana Taylor, struggle with paranoia, resentment, and their devotion to radicalism, hindering their ability to see their experiences in a broader context. The film suggests that political radicalism becomes all-consuming. These issues ignite the central debates in One Battle After Another. Both films ultimately present cinema as more than a representational medium, portraying it instead as a tool for shaping historical perspectives, although they differ in their treatment of memory. The Secret Agent suggests that remembering the past constitutes a political act, resisting the erasure of significant events. One Battle After Another treats the past as material for stylized scenes and ironic storytelling, which, while visually impressive, risks trivializing complex historical issues. Despite their distinct origins and filmmaking philosophies, both Kleber Mendonça Filho and Paul Thomas Anderson illuminate the challenge of addressing contemporary politics amid contested and uncertain historical memories, offering unique cinematic responses.

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