Hammarskjöld

“In our age, the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action”. So wrote the revered Swedish statesman Dag Hammarskjöld in Markings, his private journal of poems and thoughts published posthumously. In his period as Secretary General of the United Nations, Hammarskjöld made extraordinary progress in defusing global conflicts and, particularly, combating colonialism. This path, which he defended tenaciously, won him many enemies. When renewed trouble broke out in the Congo, Hammarskjöld felt compelled to organise a quasi-secret peacekeeping force, placing even his UN position in question.

Hammarskjöld was not merely a solitary person, but also an enigmatic one. Biographers continue to argue over the facts of his life and psychology, but director Per Fly takes a definite stance on his subject. As powerfully portrayed by Mikael Persbrandt (who already played the part in The Siege of Jadotville, dir. Richie Smith,  2016), Hammarskjöld is someone who denied his gay sexuality partly because of an almost religious commitment to his political role and the personal sacrifice it demanded. Likewise, this gripping biopic does not equivocate on the still disputed matter of Hammarskjöld’s tragic death in a plane crash.

– Adrian Martin