COLD CASE HAMMARSKJÖLD: Blurring The Line Between Conspiracy & Journalism

There comes a time when you realize the truth is relative. If you take certain things at face value, you can see the truth one way. When you find yourself more skeptical, you see the truth as something totally different. The new documentary Cold Case Hammarskjöld from Danish director Mads Brügger finds itself at the intersection of these two thoughts – what he uncovers certainly has some merit, but does it have enough to support his theories on what the “truth” is?

The film digs into the death (or was it murder?) of U.N. Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskjöld. In September of 1961, he was on a plane that crashed just before landing Ndola (modern day Zambia). An investigation ruled the crash a result of a pilot error, but that hasn’t stopped rumors from swirling around in the years since. Brügger, with help from Swedish private investigator/conspiracy theorist Göran Bjorkdahl.

Why do so many believe Hammarskjöld’s death was an assassination? First, some eye witnesses claim that his plane was shot down. Second, he was very outspoken in favor of the independence of young African nations just finding their bearings at the time. He was attempting to broker peace deals that would hurt mining access to Katanga. The perfect combination for a long-standing conspiracy theory.

For true crime fans, Cold Case Hammarskjöld will certainly find an entertaining two hours. Some of what Brügger manages to dig up does feel fresh and has implications far beyond the death of Hammarskjöld. However, it’s still hard to say the documentary is a good one. Brügger almost blindly buys into conspiracy theories and makes leaps of faith to support what he wants to find.

At times, it can be hard to follow and after six years, he still finds no clear conclusions on his initial premise. Cold Case Hammarskjöld blurs the line between journalism and conspiracy without ever clearly identifying itself as either, an unhealthy place to be considering the world we live in today.

Some damning evidence

Brügger certainly finds evidence that there’s more than meats the eye here. From witness accounts of the plane crash to a former NSA official sits down and mentions that he was warned of the crash ahead of time and invited to listen in, his theories on the crash aren’t meritless. They’re also not completely backed up.

Where things get more interesting is when he uncovers documents about an evil, mercenary corporation called SAIMR. By digging to find former members of the group, he’s able to track down a man ironically named Alexander Jones. Upon interviewing him, Jones reveals that SAIMR was financed by foreign governments to destabilize the area and were involved in coupes, spreading AIDS through vaccines, Angola as well as Mozambique.

If true, it’s absolutely and hugely important. Can we rely on the word of just one man though? Jones is the only one who can verify such a damning account of SAIMR. No other perspectives are shown. And that’s where Brügger begins to fall short of his duty.

Other times, a huge leap of faith

At one point, Brügger points out the the story he’s looking for would be a really attractive one – something that people would love to hear. It hurts his case as a filmmaker and independent source of information to readily admit that he’s looking for a headline-grabbing story.

But beyond that, he blindly accepts evidence that isn’t quite so clear. At one point, there are classified documents that he wants. Unfortunately for him and the audience, he’s not able to obtain them. Rather than go search for additional proof to back up his theories, Brügger assumes the classified records say what he wants. It’s one of several irresponsible decisions and assumptions in bringing his theory to life.

Putting himself front and center

Brügger is not afraid of the spotlight. In fact, he’s on screen (or just off-screen asking questions) for about 90% of the film. It detracts from the legitimacy of his investigation. At one point he spends some time digging outside of an airport with Göran and turns up pretty much nothing. It doesn’t just feel like a waste of time, it feels like he’s more interested in feeding his ego than he is finding any objective truth.

When Brügger isn’t digging for buried evidence, he’s often leaning back in a hotel chair dressed in all white. He’s dictating his story to a secretary and asking questions along the way as she takes notes. I assume it was meant to make everything seem clearer, but again, it just comes off as an opportunity for him to try paint himself as more credible than he is. It’s meant to help clean up the detours he takes and avoid confusion, but I found that it only added to them.

Cold Case Hammarskjöld: More entertaining than revelatory

Ultimately, Cold Case Hammarskjöld is entertaining, even if it’s not the bombshell documentary we expected. Despite some assumptions that are just too big to be made, Brügger takes us along his personal journey to dig into the “what if?” of the death of Dag Hammarskjöld. That’s not to say what Mads Brügger uncovers isn’t true – just that it should be taken with a boulder of salt. But perhaps that’s what he’s trying to tell us – we’ll never know the truth, it went down with Hammarskjöld’s plane.

What did you think of Cold Case Hammarskjöld? Sound off in the comments. 

Cold Case Hammarskjöld was released in the United States on August 16th, 2019.