In theory, documentary reenactments exist to make stories lacking
footage more vivid; in practice, they tend to be cheesy and
distracting. (I still laugh at an E! True Hollywood Story that
paired audio about a stormy night with nondescript footage of wet road
and puddles, emblazoned with a “this is a reenactment” disclaimer.) But
the reenactments in Air India 182—a documentary about the 1985
terrorist plane-bombing that claimed 270 lives of Canadians en route to
India—are subtle and effective. That’s because the moments director
Sturla Gunnarsson chose to recreate are superficially mundane—the
kind of pre-flight interactions that, under other circumstances, would
have long been forgotten. We’re shown an India-bound little girl
clutching a box of chocolates, who one airport-worker remembers joking
with, and the son who kept looking back at his mother as he moved to
board the plane. Seeing them makes their tragedy feel immediate, which
is important—as the doc points out, the Air India attack was
mismanaged by the government (Brian Mulroney called the Indian prime
minister with condolences, but failed to do the same for the mourning
families of his own country) and CSIS, so it’s nice to see the story
treated with appropriate gravity and compassion.
This article appears in May 28 – Jun 3, 2009.