(You
can find a Portuguese translation below the following English review, courtesy
of Angelica Sakurada. The Portuguese is hers. Any controversial opinions are
entirely my own.)
It
was not exactly the United Nation’s finest hour when it tapped China to join its
Human Rights Council, despite its dismal record of press censorship, cultural
genocide in East Turkestan, and the continuing oppression of religious worship
(plus, they made whistleblowers in Wuhan disappear during the early days of the
current global pandemic). Hypocrisy and corruption have long been rife
throughout the UN bureaucracy, especially during the days of Kofi Annan’s
administration. The one shining exception was Brazilian diplomat Sergio Vieira
de Mello. He had the unique distinction among his UN peers for actually
brokering equitable peace deals, but he was tragically killed by the Al-Qaeda
faction that evolved into ISIS. After chronicling Vieira de Mello’s story in
documentary form, Greg Barker retells it in the narrative feature simply-titled
Sergio, which starts streaming this Friday on Netflix (after premiering
at this year’s Sundance).
Vieira
de Mello opposed the Iraq War—a fact Barker and screenwriter Craig Borten clearly
do not want us to forget. In fact, they revel in his disagreements with Paul
Bremer, the Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority of Iraq. Alas,
it is no spoiler to mention the titular diplomat was killed during his Baghdad
posting, because Barker uses it as a narrative device, flashing backwards to
happier times, while U.S. Sergeants Bill von Zehle and Andre Valentine, firemen
in civilian-life, struggle to unearth Vieira de Mello and his colleague, Gil
Loescher, from the precarious rubble. Obviously, the prognosis looks bad.
Those
better days include Vieira de Mello’s tenure as the UN’s Transitional
Administrator for East Timor, where he negotiated the new nation’s peaceful
independence from Indonesia. East Timor is also where the divorced High
Commissioner meets Carolina Larriera, a micro-finance expert, who becomes his
lover and UN colleague. Unfortunately, such distractions cause Vieira de Mello
to neglect his sons. Indeed, family time is rare and awkward for the diplomat
(sadly, a big pot of delicious shrimp moqueca is neglected during a short-lived
family reunion).
Sergio’s biases are
blatantly obvious, but they still probably could have been worse. Arguably,
Bradley Whitford’s cartoonish portrayal of the nebbish Bremer as cynical villain
is the most egregious aspect of the film. On the other hand, it forthrightly
depicts the heroic efforts of von Zehle and Valentine to save Sergio and
Loescher. It is worth noting von Zehle served as a technical advisor, which is
a major reason why the rescue sequences are so tense and realistic.
Borten’s
screenplay readily admits Vieira de Mello’s decision to evict the U.S. forces
guarding the UN’s headquarters in Iraq left it directly vulnerable to terrorist
attack. However, for some dubious reason, it omits al-Zarqawi’s cited motivation
for the bombing in his statement of responsibility: the East Timor deal that
result in a net loss of territory controlled by the Islamic Caliphate—in that
case the Indonesian government.
As
a film, Sergio moves along at a good pace and convincingly recreates the
major events of his time, even though Barker and lead actor Wagner Moura are
transparently mindful of protecting Vieira de Mello’s reputation throughout the
film. They show some self-doubt and human weakness, but just enough to provide
an opportunity for redemption. Ana de Armas is pretty believable expressing
frustration with his workaholism and commitment phobia, but the character is
largely defined in relationship to him.
