Sergio, out on Netflix this week, shares the story of real-life celebrity diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello. In his prime, he was considered akin to the James Bond of the UN, so it’s only natural that he makes a fascinating subject for documentaries and dramatizations alike. 2j2566

A decade after directing HBO's documentary Sergio, about the life and death of United Nations diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello, Greg Barker returned to direct a dramatized movie of the same name that's now been released on Netflix. Sergio stars Wagner Moura as Vieira de Mello and Ana de Armas as his partner, Carolina Larriera. Both the documentary and the movie are based on Samantha Power's biography Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World, but there are some notable differences between the two.

Netflix's new film Sergio is based on the true story of Sergio Vieira de Mello, a celebrated United Nations diplomat who was tragically killed in the bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad on August 19, 2003. He was 55 years old. Wagner Moura plays Vieira de Mello in the film, which was directed by Greg Barker and sees Vieira de Mello looking back on his life as he lies trapped under the rubble in his final hours.

For his first narrative feature, Sergio, documentary filmmaker Greg Barker turns to a topic he knows all too well: the life of the late UN diplomat Sérgio Vieira de Mello. Having already covered Mello's career in a well-received 2009 documentary (also called Sergio), Barker uses his biopic to focus in more on Mello's role in guiding East Timor to become an independent democracy (after breaking ties with Indonesia) and serving as the UN ambassador to Iraq in the wake of the U.S. invasion in 2003. In doing so, Barker avoids trying to cover the breadth of his subject's life (as biopics often do) in order to craft a more personal and reflective memoir about Mello's life choices and what truly mattered to him in the end. Uneven yet sincere in its execution, Sergio combines simplified political melodrama with a tragic love story powered by its leads' performances.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy addressed the United Nations, saying "For in the development of this organization rests the only true alternative to war... Mankind must put an end to war--or war will put an end to mankind." For many years, the U.N. proved itself as a nation-building organization, creating order out of chaos, keeping societies from falling apart, and promoting diplomacy over murder. The organization wasn't perfect, but it saved lives and worked to promote peace, not war.