The Edge of Democracy – ***½

The Edge of Democracy (Petra Costa, 2019) – Global Acquisition – Documentary

This 2019 documentary recounts the events that recently transpired in Brazil leading to the downfall of the party once led by the very popular former president Lula and the subsequent rise of the ultra-right wing current president Jair Bolsonaro. This story begins with Lula leaving office with an approval rating of nearly 90% and with his hand-picked successor Dilma Rousseff winning elections and taking over. Then a scandal erupts at the state oil company Petrobras and the subsequent investigation – dubbed Operation Car Wash – reveals political corruption on a massive scale, threatening the careers of all the nation´s current and former politicians. The film details how the scandal brought down Rousseff and Lula, who were implicated in the scandal in highly questionable ways, arguing that their prosecutions were politically motivated and that they helped to pave the way for the rise of a quasi-fascist government led by Bolsonsaro.

Even for someone who follows Latin American history and politics, the events surrounding the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff and the subsequent jailing of former president Lula were difficult to follow and evaluate from abroad. Both leaders were highly respected internationally and they seemed to have the support of the Brazilian people; that is, until they didn’t. It was confusing to hear that the Brazilian people filled the streets demanding Rousseff´s removal, but at the same time it was not hard for cynics like myself to believe that corruption was discovered in the heart of once idealistic movement like that which was led by the Workers´ Party in Brazil.

Adding to the uncertainty about how to feel about these events was the speed at which they unfolded and the lack of clarity in the foreign media about who to blame or whether or not impeachment was justified in this case. Still, few watching from abroad wanted to see Lula imprisoned and no one rise of another far right leader like Bolsonaro, except of course those who sympathize with the Trumps and Farages of the world.

Cutting through the haziness of the events as seen from abroad, Petra Costa´s documentary chronicles the crisis in a straightforward and concise way, and refreshingly with a clear point-of-view on who was right in this case (i.e. Lula and Rousseff). (I should say that one of my pet peeves are documentaries that try to act like they are impartial or objective.) Her account not only provides an authoritative timeline of the events, but she also gets a great deal of access to the leftist leaders themselves and provides a very personalized view of the historical roots of the polarization that grips the country during those events.

Indeed, one of the most remarkable aspects of the film is that Costa is unabashed in talking about her dual heritage as the descendent (and therefore privileged beneficiary) of a wealthy right-wing family with ties to the former dictatorship and other governments, as well as the child of revolutionary parents who fought against the dictatorship and for a democratic government run by the working-classes. This duality gives Costa a unique perspective on this historic moment and insights into the larger social dynamics that underpin the moment.

These personalized contexts are conveyed to the film´s audience, but this doesn´t always lead to the kind of compelling personal film-making you would have ideally wanted in this film. Costa herself is very committed and passionate about the film´s subject matter, but somehow that gets lost in a film that feels very dry at times and too obsessed with the minutiae of the political maneuvering, going into far too much detail to kept the spectator as emotionally engaged as they are in more intellectual terms. In other words, the documentary sometimes gets boring at a stylistic and rhetorical level, and in those moments becomes only of interest to those well versed in Brazilian history and politics.

This is not the case throughout the film, however, and given how passionately Costa feels about the unfolding tragedy that is Bolsonaro´s ascent to power, she can perhaps be forgiven for concerning herself more with content than with form. When you´re making a documentary about a fragile democracy being undermined by opportunistic politicians exploiting class tensions and misogyny, entertainment is probably the least important factor to consider, but without it, it is hard for me to assure all audiences that they will get a lot out of this particular film.

Still, if you are interested in current affairs and understanding the rise of the far right, this is a must-see film. Even if you´re only interested in parallels to what is happening elsewhere, there is a lot here. Brazil is shown by Costa to be an extremely polarized country in which all parties are to some extent corrupt, under the thumb of big business and ruthless. The right in her view is just a bit more ruthless and was willing to exploit a scandal and the weaknesses of the Brazilian judicial system to maneuver its way into power.

As we watch headlines from the US about gerrymandering or think back on Ken Starr´s attempts to bring down Bill Clinton, it is not difficult to relate to what happened in this film. Similarly, the sheer anger over an impeachment that sought to nullify a democratic election result is also something to think about when considering how the right and even some moderates in the US might look upon an attempt to impeach Donald Trump, perhaps lending credence to the Nancy Pelosis of the world. In any case, it is a thought-provoking film, sometimes in ways that naturally feed into leftist fears about rising populism and sometimes in more complex ways that cross ideological lines.

Netflix bought this film out of Sundance in 2019 where it debuted. In so doing it was building on two distinct aspects of its content strategy. Firstly, it was adding to its localized Brazilian content. The South American nation is a big market for the service and they have been making and buying original content from that country since at least 2015 when the original series 3% was commissioned. Another major Netflix original series from Brazil is O Mecanismo which chronicles Operation Car Wash. This documentary sits very logically alongside that series and I wasn´t surprised to find it among my recommendations after watching the film.

The other major thread of Netflix original content that the film fits in with is one that pertains to documentary in particular. Hot button political issues have been the subject of numerous documentaries on the service, including US-based examples such as the recent film Knock Down the House or numerous films and series about Trump or his allies (including Get Me Roger Stone, which I reviewed some time ago). Looking beyond the US, Netflix has also employed this strategy with its localized content, making and buying docs on a range of controversial issues such as Catalan independence in Spain (a doc called Dos Cataluñas), the Umbrella movement in Hong Kong (Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower) and others.

Netflix Tendencies

Underrepresented Groups

The film was written, directed and narrated by Petra Costa.

Difficult Themes

Political themes are not generally a hard sell in the documentary world, but with its internationally-oriented English-language voice-over, this film is concerned with making the Byzantine politics of a Latin American country accessible to audiences the world over.