Sergio is a 2020 film on the life of Sergio Vieira de Mello, a Brazilian diplomat who became a High Commissioner to the United Nations.
6 out of 10 stars. This film focuses way too much on the relationship between Sergio and a journalist named Carolina Larriera. No one cares about that. They care about his humanitarian work.
In 2003, Sergio Vieira de Mello went to Baghdad, Iraq to address the atrocities committed there by the U.S. government. He was so disgusted with the crimes the U.S. had committed that he refused to allow U.S. troops to guard him and his staff of 20 while they continued to work there. Their office was bombed the next day. Although Islamic extremists took credit for the bombing, it is apparent that they were tipped off by U.S. President Bush’s White House aide, Paul Bremer.
The rest of the film tries to briefly shed a light on the good work Sergio did. However most of that is overshadowed by what a terrible human being he was. In one scene he almost kills his son by giving him shellfish (his son was allergic to shellfish). In another scene he passes up his summer vacation with his sons to run off with his mistress.
Then there’s Carolina Larriera, his mistress. After Sergio’s death, she took his wife and sons to court and fought to be made his “legal partner” and take all of his estate. Why make a film about two such vile people? It’s hard to look at what good a person does when they do so much damage for personal gain.
6 out of 10 stars. Watchable, but don’t expect to have any respect for Sergio or Larriera.
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