Butler's Cinema Scene

Sergio Chamy, Romulo Aiken

“THE MOLE AGENT”  My rating: B+ (Begins streaming on Sept. 1)

84 minutes | No MPAA rating

The opening of the charming/devastating documentary “The Mole Agent” finds dozens of graying gents in Santiago, Chile, responding to a help-wanted ad for “elderly men between 80 and 90.” (Face it — there aren’t many job opportunities for that particular demographic.)

The ad was placed by Romulo Aiken, the head of a private detective agency, who after a series of semi-comic interviews finally hires 83-year-old Sergio Chamy. Sergio is informed that he will spend the next three months undercover in a nursing facility.  The  daughter of  a resident suspects elder abuse by employees and has launched an elaborate scheme to expose these alleged crimes.

Not only will  Sergio have to learn the ins and outs of an iPhone (so that he can file daily reports with Romulo), but he’s given a pair of high-tech spectacles and a writing pen equipped with mini-cameras with which to record any nefarious goings-on.

Even more amazing, Romulo and filmmaker Maite Alberdi have already infiltrated the retirement home with a camera crew, ostensibly  to do a documentary about elder care but strategically placed to follow Sergio while he interacts with the residents and sleuths out the truth of the situation.

What starts out as a sort of mystery, though, quickly emerges as something else — a funny, heartbreaking examination of aging filled with colorful characters and enough choked-back sobs that wise viewers will keep a box of tissues within easy reach.

As the newest resident — and an eligible male to boot — Sergio immediately becomes a hot topic. The ladies uniformly agree that he is “gentlemanly.” Indeed his impeccable attire, gently outgoing personality and genuine concern for those he encounters makes him something of a rarity. He’s a spy who happily becomes the center of attention.

As it turns out, the woman whose daughter launched this whole operation is a grumpy loner, but there doesn’t seem to be anything abusive going on. (Near the end of his investigation Sergio wonders about a child who hasn’t visited her mother in a year but will bankroll such an expensive enterprise.)

Sergio finds himself energized by his new gig: “I’m beginning to feel like the person I used to be.”

Most of his time is spent with other residents.

There’s Marta, deep in dementia, who stands at the facility’s locked gate and begs passersby to let her out. She laments that she hasn’t had a visit from  her mother (long dead); periodically a staff member phones Marta pretending to be her mother.  It’s a way of keeping her calm.

There’s Bertita, who never married but is so charmed by our spy that she begins talking up a wedding ceremony.

Or Ribira, struggling with unbearable loneliness.

“If you feel like crying,” Sergio kindly advises, “just cry.”

But he does more, presenting Ribira with recent photographs of the children and grandchildren who have abandoned her.

Small wonder that he is elected “king” of the nursing home and bathes in the good will and love of his fellow residents.

Which raises an interesting ethical issue — after all, he’s there to spy on everyone.

And he frustrates Romulo when his daily reports begin veering away from elder abuse to concentrate on the essential human condition: “Loneliness is the worse thing about this place.”

In short, “The Mole Agent” is a humanistic document of the highest order.

| Robert W. Butler