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Review: In the bloodless ‘September 5,’ TV producers tackle an infamous terrorist attack

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Review: In the bloodless 'September 5,' TV producers tackle an infamous terrorist attack

As a seasoned journalist with decades of experience under my belt, I must say that “September 5” is a riveting and thought-provoking film that takes us deep into the heart of newsroom chaos during one of the most significant events of our time – the 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre.

In 1972, the Summer Olympics began in Munich, West Germany, welcoming approximately 4,000 journalists and releasing 5,000 white doves. Interestingly, this was their debut as Games hosts since the events of 1936 we all know about. The nation aimed to convey a message of peace during this occasion.

In the control room at ABC network, Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), head of the sports division, seems more captivated by underdogs rather than winners. The show “September 5” kicks off with a glimpse of Arledge’s strategic mind in action as he instructs his team to switch from a victorious athlete to their heartbroken opponent. It is in moments of failure that we find the essence of humanity, and fittingly, the Swiss director Tim Fehlbaum has crafted a fast-paced tragedy about one of the 20th century’s most significant failures: the massacre of 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team during a hostage crisis that unfolds swiftly in the film.

Despite being alerted that such an attack might occur, the Olympic authorities were unable to prevent it, and the terrorists, in turn, failed to coerce Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir into fulfilling their demands. Simultaneously, in the ABC newsroom, Arledge and his team members Marvin Bader (portrayed by Ben Chaplin) and Geoffrey Mason (played by John Magaro) struggled to deliver flawless coverage, transmitting two major blunders to a live audience of approximately 900 million viewers.

As a cinephile, I find myself drawn to the behind-the-scenes action in this production. Once the cameras start rolling and the first bullets fly, everything moves at breakneck speed. Who’s on comms? Who takes charge? Who speaks German? The frantic pace continues even when the chase turns into a long run. Our three main actors have distinct roles: Arledge is all about humanity; Bader, ethical considerations; Mason, obsessed with capturing the perfect shots. One of his crewmen quips, “You got it, Kubrick.” Fehlbaum and co-writers Moritz Binder and Alex David have also created a German production assistant (Leonie Benesch) who rises from her initial role to become more than just a translator. Additionally, they’ve included an older German technician (Ferdinand Dörfler), who serves as a reminder that the horrors of the 1940s were still vivid memories for those over forty. “I can still hear gunshots clearly,” he insists.

Review: In the bloodless 'September 5,' TV producers tackle an infamous terrorist attack

Movies

The upcoming thriller titled ‘September 5’ offers a retrospective view of the tragic events during the 1972 Munich Olympics as depicted by ABC’s news coverage. It delves into the moral quandaries faced in crisis journalism.

Arledge is a well-known figure in many homes, having spanned various aspects of television from the puppet Lamb Chop to Monday Night Football and 20/20. He and Mason often find themselves competing against other channels, usually outvoting Bader by a ratio of two to one. It’s worth mentioning that Bader, the son of Holocaust survivors, is frequently too occupied to acknowledge this fact himself. As the story progresses, Mason becomes the main character, demonstrating an instinctive knack for deciding when to switch scenes and when to blur them. Portrayed in a delirious state by Magaro, Mason sometimes loses track of what he’s actually broadcasting on air, such as potentially graphic content like an athlete’s demise. He is the youngest among the trio, and it’s not hard to imagine Network’s Howard Beale speaking about him four years later as a symbol of a generation raised on television, viewing it as “the gospel, the ultimate revelation.

In my perspective as a film critic, “September 5” is swiftly paced like a contemporary suspense flick, with non-stop action that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The cinematographer, Markus Förderer, prefers a handheld approach, as if to pay tribute to the bulky cameras of the 1970s that are laboriously moved out of the office and up a small hill. The grainy, retro-inspired visuals, filtered through tweed-like textures, initially leave your eyes squinting in adaptation. The dim, bluish lighting and the frenetic movement of people grabbing maps and slamming rotary phones create an amusing parody of a CIA spy movie’s frantic atmosphere. Later, when the group mockingly ridicules the local police for their comedic attempts to disguise themselves in chef hats, it offers a brief moment of bleak satire, reminiscent of the Keystone Kops.

In my critique, I’d say this movie maintains a focused and unique narrative, steering clear of typical close-ups with victims, villains, or action heroes from the German security team that seem to appear out of nowhere and vanish just as swiftly. The director eschews graphic scenes or heated debates that might stir our own emotions. Instead, Fehlbaum meticulously fills the screen with his penchant for tangible items: stopwatches, soldering irons, piles of sandwiches, dot-matrix printers. These objects, which we’re often accustomed to seeing digitally enhanced, take us by surprise when a woman delicately places the ABC logo on the lens with her hand, adding a touch of authenticity that’s refreshing in today’s high-tech world.

Fehlbaum finds it captivating to observe how a narrative unfolds and demonstrates the significance of replaying scenes in slow motion. The film restricts itself to the ABC bunker, only showing us what the broadcasters have managed to record through their persistence and cunning, such as fabricating a fake athlete’s ID for an employee (Daniel Adeosun) who shuttles film stock back and forth between the isolated Olympic Village like a lone runner in a relay race. Fehlbaum effectively creates suspense using men giving orders over headsets, but maintaining the illusion becomes more challenging as events move further away and news comes in at a slower pace.

Review: In the bloodless 'September 5,' TV producers tackle an infamous terrorist attack

One intriguing paradox of September 5th is that its busy content creators appear to be uninterested in their own output as soon as they exhaust fresh material to present. If Arledge were still here, he’d emphasize the importance of adding a human touch to the program’s script. However, it’s this detachment that enables these TV personnel to perform their duties effectively. Often, they seem almost oblivious to the updates they receive until the anchor restates them on air. When information becomes too distressing, there’s a brief pause before normalcy resumes. (In more recent interviews, the real-life Mason has acknowledged that he would later cry privately.)

In a casual yet impactful manner, Benjamin Walker’s character, Peter Jennings, delivers a surprising statement about the knowledge required for knowing the effective radius of a grenade. He then softens it with an apologetic tone, “No offense meant, fellows,” implying they are sports casters and not military personnel. If this film had been released prior to “Network” and the subsequent wave of media cynicism, it would have caused quite a stir, especially when sportscaster Howard Cosell expresses his excitement, saying “We’re gearing up for what I believe will be an exciting climax.

Currently, television has conditioned us to perceive various aspects of life as if they were sports matches: dating shows mimic competitions, political debates feel like games, and victories or losses on the battlefield are measured in yards. On the other hand, viewers often expect their entertainment to take a stand on political issues, which is why the movie “September 5” not expressing an opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict might upset some people. Instead, it’s more productive to consider this film as a reflection on dealing with the reality of not having all the answers. As the experienced journalist Jim McKay once said, “No one knows what the future holds for world history — we don’t know.

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2024-12-12 14:31

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