(MDB) said this Friday (26) that, if he was not a president of the popular Republic, he hopes to transform him into “a very popular ex-president”. In his style, he stated that it is “an extraordinary film”.
The doc, directed by experienced filmmaker Bruno Barreto, which was shown to guests this Friday in , “accounts” for the controversial administration of Temer, who succeeded the former president () in 2016 after the traumatic process of , taking over the Planalto branded a “coupist” by former allies.
Asked whether the film was intended to be a “historical portrayal”, the former president said that was not the objective. He denied that it was a white film, despite the laudatory tone of some sections.
A magazine report showed in May that the Moriah Asset fund, linked to former banker Daniel Vorcaro, purchased a R$1 million share in financing the film at the end of 2023. At the time, Elsinho Mouco, who was Temer’s marketer, confirmed the information as producer of the documentary.
This Friday, at the preview, the former president said that there was no public money or sponsorship from Banco Master for the production.
In the documentary, forty interviewees take turns telling the story. Asked why there were no PT members on the list, director Barreto said that they “were invited, but they didn’t want to speak.”
The documentary begins by contextualizing Temer’s choice as Dilma’s vice-president — an attempt, with , to stabilize the correlation of forces with Congress after the crisis that began in 2005. At a certain point in the testimonies, Temer tells in a good-humored way how Lula didn’t want him as Dilma’s vice-president — and how the party got around the situation.
The former president is portrayed as a dignified woman, but with no political skills, who, in her second term, harassed by the economic situation, ends up “outsourcing” political negotiations in Congress to her vice president — considered a good negotiator who “had lunch, dinner and coffee every day” with the deputies.
After this movement, Lava Jato emerged and other political errors followed, such as the confrontation between the PT government and the former president of the Chamber (PMDB), which ended up leading to impeachment. As a tragic character, Temer seems to be driven to take office by circumstances.
The film quickly passes through Temer’s interim period, which began when Dilma was temporarily removed, and focuses more on the measures taken after his post-impeachment post.
Important government figures and journalists believe that Temer “took advantage” of his unpopularity to assume the political cost of implementing harsh measures, contained in the Emedebista “Bridge to the Future” program, such as the spending cap and reforms.
The , on day 299 of his government, is presented — and soon interrupted by a biographical digression in which Temer remembers his childhood and recalls his legal and political career, from the beginning with former governor Franco Montoro in São Paulo, through the Constituent Assembly until he became an influential parliamentarian.
Remarkable at this moment — and throughout the film — are the interventions by his daughter Luciana Temer, activist and teacher, in which she tries to contextualize the man Temer and defend his legacy. According to her, none of her father’s formality is rehearsed. “He’s like that. I’ve never seen my father in flip-flops”, he explains.
The discussion of the Joesley case is resumed and transformed into a debate about the press, which would have, supported by , advanced the signal in an audio that would not have enough elements to incriminate the president.
On day 370, Temer makes a powerful speech in which he says he will not resign. The conclusion of those interviewed is that the crisis was caused as a reaction to the economic reforms proposed by the government, especially Social Security.
This episode, according to those interviewed, shows the moment when the government is having difficulty moving forward and Temer becomes a “guardian of crises”.
Things would get worse with , which paralyzed the country in 2018 and had a strong negative impact on .
The film sees in this protest on the roads, articulated in a way that surprised authorities and journalists, the snake’s egg of what would be one of the ways of shaping the new, polarized way of doing politics, which was installed in the country later — and since then already well used by Bolsonarism.
Here, the criticism of the criminalization of traditional politics goes back to the errors of Lava Jato, including the testimony of the minister — elevated to the Supreme Court by Temer himself in 2017 —, and ends by showing the coup acts of January 8, 2023.
Ultimately, according to Temer himself, the film is a critique not of the “polarization of ideas” — which he defends — but of the “radicalization” that currently dominates the country — and an “appeal to consensus.”
The film should be released in September in cinemas in 10 capitals.
