September 5 (2024)
Directed by: Tim Fehlbaum
Premise: Based on true events. At the 1972 Munich Olympics, Black September terrorists take Israeli athletes hostage. The ABC Sports crew reports the story in real time.
What Works: September 5 dramatizes well-known events but the filmmakers have created a thriller that will keep viewers engaged regardless of whether they are familiar with the facts. It’s a procedural story in which professional broadcasters and journalists call upon their skills and ingenuity to report the story. The filmmakers recreate the era quite convincingly. The costumes and sets are of the era and the picture was shot on 16mm film which gives it a look of media from that time. September 5 also includes a lot of historical footage of these events and the use of 16mm film makes the dramatized portions and the archival footage fit together seamlessly. The filmmakers throw themselves into the details of early ’70s broadcasting and a lot of attention is paid to the technology of the time which gives September 5 a lot of credibility. The story is focused on the sports journalists who were thrust into an unprecedented world event and September 5 dramatizes the ethical implications for the producers as they weigh the risks of potentially abetting terrorism or inadvertently broadcasting murder over the airwaves. The film also acknowledges the emotional toll of being in close proximity to tragedy. Even though most of September 5 is confined to the inside of a television studio the film is very cinematic and extremely tense. The filmmakers find the drama in solving problems and making editorial decisions. The picture has the feel of events that are out of control while the filmmaking itself is assured and deliberate.
What Doesn’t: The terrorist attack on the 1972 Olympics had a bigger context to do with the conflict between Israel and Palestine. September 5 is narrowly focused on the immediate drama of reporting an international crisis as it unfolds. It doesn’t concern itself with the nuances of the Israel-Palestine issue because that’s outside of its purview. Viewers interested in that should seek out the documentary One Day in September and the 2005 drama Munich. September 5 works a lot of story into a tight running time. That generally works for the movie, creating a breakneck pace, but it does suffer a little from the compression of time; the whole event lasted about thirty-one hours but it’s sometimes hard to tell how much time has actually passed and day turns to night very quickly.
Disc extras: None.
Bottom Line: September 5 is an exceptional historical thriller. The film dramatizes a key moment in twentieth century journalism and does so in a way that is riveting but also thoughtful in the way it addresses an array of professional and ethical problems.
Episode: #1039 (March 16, 2025)