Oliver Stone and Rob Wilson’s documentary feature Lula follows Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva’s extraordinary life journey. In conversation with Stone, Lula walks audiences through his childhood, political career, imprisonment, and triumphant return to the office of the presidency. With a 90-minute runtime, the documentary is a tight piece, never losing momentum. This is thanks in part to its editing and use of music, but primarily due to its supremely captivating subject matter. The film touches on some of the country’s tragic history in order to provide context. In doing this, it frames Lula as Brazil’s working-class hero, having risen from poverty and illiteracy to the highest office in the land as a champion of the left. Given the film’s runtime, the amount of information it manages to communicate is an impressive feat. It avoids the pitfall of merely regurgitating facts to its audience due to its conversational style. Being somewhat familiar with Lula’s political career, the documentary surprised me when key moments—such as Lula’s imprisonment and subsequent reelection—sparked genuine suspense.
As an American, I never felt lost. However, the film provides what feels to be a limited perspective. Stone and Wilson are more concerned with convincing audiences that Lula is a great man than with painting an objective portrait of the figure. This has been difficult to reckon with as my views certainly align with Lula’s. I do feel as though one has a special responsibility to remain neutral. And, while I respect the filmmakers’ conviction, the lines between political and personal admiration were sometimes blurred. When introducing the documentary, Stone praised Lula, stating the film would make audiences fall in love with him. Even Lula seemed slightly uncomfortable at Stone’s reverence of him.
Lula, members of his team, and journalist Glenn Greenwald are interviewed by Stone, who is not shy of the camera. This imbues the film with a sense of exclusivity. However, the piece does little to provide the same regard for Lula’s rivals, such as Jair Bolsonaro—prominently featured in unflattering archival footage. Although I find any footage of Bolsonaro unflattering, these segments felt somewhat like political smear ads, as Lula was consistently portrayed in the most positive of lights. Audience members jeered at the first appearance of Bolsonaro and clapped throughout Lula’s victories as if they were watching a summer blockbuster on opening weekend. I must admit, I was—at times—also caught up in the frenzy.
In a world seemingly sliding further and further toward fascism, what responsibility falls on filmmakers? Does neutrality go out the window when people’s lives are at stake? Stone and Wilson’s allegiance to Lula remains its most blatant issue as a political documentary. The story itself is a moving one, the importance of which cannot be understated. However, as a portrait of one of the most influential Latin American figures, its devotion to portraying Lula in a positive light renders the piece somewhat toothless.
Great review!!!!