The Mechanism (TV series)
O Mecanismo is a Brazilian political drama television series created by José Padilha and Elena Soarez, directed by Padilha, Felipe Prado, and Marcos Prado, and written by Elena Soarez. The show depicts Operation Car Wash, an ongoing police taskforce that discovered a widespread corruption scheme involving the Brazilian government and several prominent engineering firms. The series premiered all episodes of the first season March 23, 2018, worldwide, on Netflix.
On May 28, 2018, the series was renewed for a second season. The second season premiered on Netflix on May 10, 2019.
Plot
Marco Ruffo is a Federal Police delegate obsessed with the case he is investigating. When he least expects it, he and his apprentice, Verena Cardoni, are already immersed in one of the largest diversion and money laundering investigations in Brazilian history. The proportion is so great that the course of investigations completely changes the lives of all involved.Cast
- Selton Mello as Marco Ruffo
- Caroline Abras as Verena Cardoni
- Enrique Díaz as Roberto Ibrahim
- Leonardo Medeiros as João Pedro Rangel
- Alessandra Colassanti as Wilma Kitano
- Jonathan Haagensen as Vander
- Otto Jr. as Judge Paulo Rigo
- as Regina
- as Dimas
- Lee Taylor as Claudio Amadeu
Production
Development
In April 2016, Netflix announced that it would produce an original, still untitled series that would follow the investigations of Operation Car Wash. The series was produced by José Padilha, Marcos Prado and the production company Zazen Produções and written by Elena Soarez and Sofia Maldonado. The series was directed by José Padilha, Felipe Prado, Marcos Prado and Daniel Rezende.Filming
The Mechanism started its production in May 2017. Filming locations included the cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and Brasília.Similarities with real life events
Despite the recurrent disclaimer at the start of each episode, declaring the screenplay is loosely based on a true story, with characters and events adapted for dramatic effect, many characters and companies depicted can be easily traced to the actual people and companies involved in Operation Car Wash. Some such associations are:| Character/Company | Counterpart | Actor |
| Petrobrasil | Petrobras | |
| Constructor OSA | OAS Group | |
| Constructor Miller&Brecht | Odebrecht | |
| Roberto Ibrahim | Alberto Youssef | Enrique Diaz |
| Judge Paulo Rigo | Judge Sérgio Moro | Otto Jr. |
| Former President João "Gino" Higino | Former President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | Arthur Kohl |
| President Janete Ruscov | Then-President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff | Sura Berditchevsky |
| Senator Lúcio Lemes | Senator Aécio Neves | Michel Bercovitch |
| Vice President Samuel Thames | Then-Vice President of Brazil Michel Temer | Tonio Carvalho |
| Mario Garcez Brito | Márcio Thomaz Bastos | Pietro Mário |
| João Pedro Rangel | Paulo Roberto Costa | Leonardo Medeiros |
| Ricardo Brecht | Marcelo Odebrecht | Emílio Orciollo Netto |
| Lorival Bueno | Léo Pinheiro, then OAS Group CEO | Sidney Guedes |
| Attorney General | Then-Prosecutor General of Brazil Rodrigo Janot | Lionel Fischer |
| Prosecutor Dimas Donatelli | Prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol | Antonio Saboia |
| Maria Tereza, Miller&Brecht Personal Assistant | Maria Lúcia Tavares, then Odebrecht Executive Assistant | Anna Cotrim |
| Police Chief Verena Cardoni | Police Chief Erika Marena | Caroline Abras |
| Agent "China" | Newton Ishii, agent of the Federal Police of Brazil | Fábio Yoshihara |