‘Hammarskjold - Fight For Peace’: Rotterdam Review

Dir: Per Fly. Sweden. 2023. 114mins

Superstar diplomat Dag Hammarskjold’s fame rests on his tenure as the second Secretary General of The United Nations and his controversial death in a plane crash in 1961 (as detailed in 2019’s hit documentary Cold Case Hammerskjold). Per Fly’s well-heeled biopic largely focuses on his final weeks, emphasising the ideals that drove Hammarskjold and the forces that gathered against him. This measured, respectful drama should connect with an older demographic and has already secured seven Swedish Guldbagge nominations including Best Film and Best Actor for lead Mikael Persbrandt.

Makes accessible the world of politics, betrayals and vested interests in which Hammarskjold was operating

Director and co-writer Fly (The Inheritance, Monica Z) quickly conveys a sense of Hammarskjold’s importance on the world stage throughout the 1950s. Black and white newsreel footage paints him as fearless in negotiating the release of American soldiers captured by China during the Korean War, averting a war over the Suez Canal and revealing a steely determination to champion decolonisation in Africa. ’Just leave it to Dag!’ became a mantra for some world leaders.

There is a crisp elegance to the storytelling that seeks to match Hammarskjold’s personality. The production design from Niels Sejer conjures a world of gleaming limousines and shadowy, wood-panelled rooms where men determined the affairs of the world. Hammarskjold is often seen working into the night with only a table lamp and his thoughts for company.

Hammarskjold himself is a figure from an age when diplomats wore bow-ties and dapper suits, and might still hope to make the world a better place. Mikael Persbrandt portrays him as a precise, orderly man who has created a confident, unflappable public persona. The mask covers the passion and righteousness that fuels his diplomacy, but also conceals his inner life. Hammarskjold lives in a plush New York apartment that he shares with his pet monkey Greenback and is attended by a loyal butler, further encouraging the echoes of a bygone era. It is the life of an aesthete completely dedicated to his work.

The film honours that life but also attempts to dig a little deeper into Hammarskjold’s isolation, loneliness and the sacrifices he made. Fly makes use of the journals Hammarskjold kept that were only made public after his death; here, we find a man who wrote poetry and carefully examined his achievements and failings. Fly also introduces the figure of Peter Levin (Thure Lindhardt), a friend from Hammarskjold’s past who attempts to rekindle their acquaintance and offer him a love he has denied himself. Hammarskjold asserts he is not gay but there is a sense of him as a Gatsby and Peter as the one who got away.

Fly makes accessible the world of politics, betrayals and vested interests in which Hammarskjold was operating. He spotlights the way Belgium plotted to retain its financial interests in the Congo, and how even seemingly natural allies failed Hammarskjold in his hour of need. The actions of Belgian-backed Congolese politician Thshombe (Hakeem Kae-Kazim) and the UN response masterminded by Hammarskjold became a battleground in which the politician was willing to stake his life.

The last 30 minutes of the film have the intrigue and pace of a political thriller, even though we already know the outcome. Fly and co-writer Elf Ryberg have no hesitation in depicting Hammarskjold’s death as a political assassination, refuting the official version of the time. While the film is a sometimes sentimental celebration of a heroic figure, the decision to delve deeper into his personality makes him a more rounded, human figure and his loss all the more moving.