A tragic story sharply told from the ABC Sports studio.
“September 5” is told from the point of view of the ABC Sports crew, who intend to cover the story of the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage crisis. It was also known as the Munich massacre, and this act of terrorism was carried out by eight members of the Black September group, and resulted in an unhappy conclusion. Disclaimer: I’m not spoiling anything, because this is history, so save your accusations for another article.
There was a movie about this event called “Munich,” which was directed by Steven Spielberg and made less than 20 years ago. It focused on the Mossad assassinations, A.K.A. Operation Bayonet, which was a covert operation taking out those accused of being involved with this horrific event.
And both movies are thrillers told from different aspects and with different actors and filmmakers.
“September 5” is on a much smaller scale than that Oscar nominated masterpiece, but it does act as if it really was taking place during that horrific event. I mean in terms of how the actors deal with what goes on and how the film chooses to dramatize it.
When I saw this at the Paramount Screening Room, I was at the edge of my seat, as I’ve never heard about this true story. And even though we don’t actually see the terrorist, I did the same trick I used when I saw “Hotel Mumbai.” I kept looking back every 20 minutes or so, just to make sure I’m not in real danger. Just don’t do it too much or the other patrons will think you’re suspicious.
The cast in this movie includes Peter Sarsgard as the broadcasting executive Roone Arledge, John Magaro as the ambitious producer Geoffrey Mason, Ben Chaplin as his mentor Marvin Bader, and Leonie Benesch (whom I’ve loved last year in “The Teacher’s Lounge”) as the German translator Marianne Gebhardt. And these performances are real and provocative, especially when timing is off the essence, and which studio gets to cover part of this horrific event first.
There’s a lot of the crew to do in order to get this story on the air and on their end. They have to disguise one of their own as an athlete to place a camera facing the hostage building. They also have to deal with censorship and what the police bring during this crisis. And they need to get clarifications about whether or not everyone will be safe. And Mason is in charge of everything.
“September 5” was co-written and directed by Tim Fehlbaum (“Tides”), co-written by Moritz Binder and Alex David, and produced by Sean Penn. I’m told that Fehlbaum spent months researching the events and even working with a production to make a replica of the studio used that day. It looks and feels so authentic with the old cameras, the TVs, and everything a studio had back in the 70s. But there’s a lot more that goes on inside, so it’s not just the appearance we should single out.
There could have been more coverage of what went down, and sometimes I feel the film was skittish in certain sections. But most of the film is suspenseful with the pacing, the editing by Hansjörg Weißbrich, the cinematography by Markus Förderer, and the performances from Starsgard, Magaro, and Benesch. It uses the dialogue is the right productivity, and you’re able to see how these people interact in the studio. It isn’t rushed and it isn’t forced. I think this set and these words have a lot in common in terms of its dramatization.
“Munich” is the more powerful and riveting thriller about the aftermath of attacks, but “September 5” is still a worthy film told from the newsroom covering them.
In Select Theaters This Friday
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