Scene Reenactments

Shooting scene recreations

Scene recreations are a common form of documentary technique that is often used when there is a lack of archival footage or the archival footage is not adequate quality. There are many issues that arise with the use of reenactment. Some people consider it to be untruthful, but others argue that if the truth is already known, re-enactments can deliver it cinematically.

In 1988, documentary filmmaker, Errol Morris released a documentary that proved the innocence of a death row inmate and resulted in his release. The New York Film Critics Circle named A Thin Blue Line the best documentary feature of that year. On top of that it received numerous awards and recognition. Despite this film’s praise when the Oscar nominations of the year came around, this film was nowhere to be found. Roger Ebert, a top film critic, was outraged. He called it “the worst non-nomination of the year,” and blamed it on the academy’s “inability of academy voters to appreciate innovative filmmaking.”

This film was made in 1988 about a crime that took place in 1976. Morris’ signature style of filmmaking is his use of dramatic reenactments. A Thin Blue Line was one of his earlier films, but today he is known for these reenactments. Morris attributes this technique as to why A Thin Blue Line was overlooked, “Critics don’t like re-enactments in documentary films – perhaps because they think that documentary images should come from the present, that the director should be hands-off.” Although the crime occurred in the past, Morris was not given a pass for his use of reenactments. He even had one confused Dallas Morning News reporter ask him, “So, how is it that you managed to be on the roadway (the crime scene) that night?”

Morris disagrees with the academy’s decision to not acknowledge his film as a true documentary because of the techniques chosen. Re-enactments, like any other type of film, photography, or communication, can be used to search for the truth or subvert it. It is not the use of re-enactments itself that is wrong, but how they are used. Morris and the Texas Court of Appeals believe they were used to uncover the truth.

Morris disagrees with the academy’s decision to not acknowledge his film as a true documentary because of the techniques chosen. Re-enactments, like any other type of film, photography, or communication, can be used to search for the truth or subvert it. It is not the use of re-enactments itself that is wrong, but how they are used.

Reenactmetns in Documentaries

Reenactments and documentaries have gone hand in hand since the inception of the genre. Reenactments, although often unappreciated, take the viewer a step further than just hearing the story being told; they place the audience into the story. This, when done well, results in an unbelievable viewing experience that can beautifully blend the lines between documentary and narrative film
making.

In my opinion, When talking about reenactments in documentaries you can really only start with one film, Errol Morris’ 1988 film Thin Blue Line. The Documentary is an investigation of the murder of a Dallas Police officer, Robert Wood, in 1976.  David Harris testified that Randall Adams, who was with Harris the night of the killing, was person guilty of shooting the officer in cold blood. The film progresses to show the series of events, like poor timing, misinformation, ulterior motives, and downright lies, that lead to a wrongful conviction. The story behind the documentary is fascinating in and of its self and should be viewed just for that, however for me the true gems of the film are the multiple reenactments of the murder. The each reenactment is shown from a different witnesses’ point of view, and changes slightly with each of their interpretations of the crime. This was done so successfully that it allowed the audience to better understand the case, separate facts from fiction for themselves, and come to their own conclusion about who was actually guilty.

            The reenactments in Thin Blue Line are vastly different from the reenactments of most film and television documentaries. Having them shot in very low key lighting, and having characters in question silhouetted gave the documentary’s cinematography an almost Film-Noir feeling. These techniques are effectively used for a number of reasons. First, and perhaps most obviously, it helps set the over all mood of the film; uncertainty in regards to the case. The low-key lighting also adds a stark contrast between the interviews and the reenactments; while the silhouetted framing of the suspects reinforces the idea the viewer has limited information about what actually happened. Ironically Thin Blue Line was not considered for Best Documentary, because according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences the reenactments made the movie “a fiction film,” not a documentary, I however strongly disagree.

            Another documentary with reenactments worthy of mentioning is, my personal favorite documentary, The Stories We Tell directed by the talented actress, and arguably more talented writer and director Sarah Polley. The movie is multidimensional and has many twists, turns, and subplots, but is for the most part about the life of Sarah’s mother, Diane and an affair that she may or may not have had which may or may not have produced Sarah. The movie also deals with her family’s different interpretations and memories of the story and the past, dealing with the main theme of the film, the faultiness and unreliability of memory. The story of Sarah’s mother’s life is complexly beautiful, sorrowful and somehow simultaneously joyful, and was portrayed excellently in the reenactments.

            However, the fascinating thing about the reenactments in this film are the fact that most people don’t even realize that they are reenactments; they look exactly like old home movies. Sarah shot the reenactments on a Super 8 camera, mimicking, almost exactly, the way her brother shot the real home footage as a child (some of which is also in the film). The painstaking efforts to find actors and actress who look almost identical to the actual family members also didn’t help the viewer realize they were not watching real home movies form Sarah’s child hood. Sarah at first indented for the reenactments to be “hokey” and obviously not real, but she soon changed her mind. This decision was a brilliant one because it really adds the  theme that memories are not always all them seem, or as reliable as we think they are.

Of cores, crappy reenactments can be just as entertaining…