September 5 review

SEPTEMBER 5: 

MUNICH EQUIVALENT OF SPOTLIGHT IS A TENSION-FILLED AND POWERFUL EXPERIENCE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Leonie Benesch, Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, and Ben Chaplin in September 5

 

            The horrific 1972 Summer Olympics hostage crisis in Munich is shown through the perspective of the ABC Sports crew in September 5, the new film from Tim Fehlbaum (Hell, Tides). The story of tragic incident during the Munich Olympics has been brought to the screen before in 2005 with Steven Spielberg’s Munich, but this is the first to be focused entirely on ABC’s coverage of it. 

            Where Spielberg’s movie definitely had more of a spectacle and was powerful on an emotional level, this movie I felt was more insightful as to how ABC covered the Munich attack. I commend both films for tackling the same subject but doing it in completely different ways to the point where I wasn’t making comparisons to the Spielberg Munich during my viewing. 

             After a hostage crisis begins at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, ABC Sports president, Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard-Shattered Glass, An Education, Black Mass) is forced to push untested sports producer, Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro-Orange Is the New Black, First Cow, Past Lives) to report live news. With lives on the line and the world watching, this legendary broadcast reshapes journalism forever. 

            The film also stars Ben Chaplin (The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, Me and Orson Welles, London Boulevard) as ABC Sports head of operation Marvin Bader, Leonie Benesch (The Crown, Babylon Berlin, The Teachers’ Lounge) as translator Marianne Gebhardt, Zinedine Soualem (The Nativity Story) as Jacques Lesgards, Georgina Rich (Dimensions, War of the Worlds (2019), Heartstopper) as Gladys Deist, Corey Johnson (Hellboy, The Bourne Ultimatum, Captain Phillips) as Hank Hanson, and Benjamin Walker (Flags of Our Fathers, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, In the Heart of the Sea) as Peter Jennings. 

            Overall, September 5 is an incredible and anxiety-inducing look at one of the most tragic incidents ever broadcasted on live television and how it got broadcasted in the first place. The best film I can compare it to is Saturday Night except instead of trying to make it to air for a sketch-comedy show, it’s reporting the terrorist attack during the Munich Olympics which definitely has much higher stakes than SNL. 

It’s non-stop tension and adrenaline throughout most of the runtime with the ABC Sports team scrambling to report the story before the hostages die. The movie gives this feeling of dread and anxiety as early as the opening scene where you’re watching ABC Sports prepare to broadcast all the events at the Olympics in separate areas of the Olympic Village at the exact same times and in a different time zone than the United States and it escalates as the film goes on. 

I’m sure there were probably a few dialogue exchanges or plot elements that were dramatized to make the film more effective, but in terms of the script, directing, acting, etc. it seemed like it was a very genuine production and the cast and crew really cared about what they were bringing to the screen and wanted to be as accurate and authentic as possible. 

Just the way the film is shot and its fast editing gives you this adrenaline rush that keeps you on the edge of your seat during every harrowing sequence only to have another issue come up and makes things more stressful for the characters. Lots of quick cuts, intense zooms, and non-stop camera movements, I don’t think Spotlight ever got this intense with journalism. 

The acting is excellent with John Magaro giving a very commanding performance as the man calling the shots in the ABC Sports control room in Munich. Given the situation, you understand why he’s on edge throughout the film trying to broadcast this horrific hostage crisis and has plenty of sympathetic moments and asks some interesting questions about what can be shown on television like someone getting killed. 

Peter Sarsgaard gets top billing and he is also a standout as the president of ABC Sports who is equally as on edge as Magaro’s Mason. Though if you ask me, John Magaro is the true star of the movie, but Sarsgaard is still great here. 

I was mesmerized just by seeing how journalism was done back then and watching every single step people had to do in the 1970s to develop photos, set and direct cameras, and do all this work in a certain amount of time…on top of a terrorist attack happening. Probably the most intense depiction of journalism I have ever seen and I’ve taken classes on it in school and it’s never been this crazy. 

September 5 is a powerful movie experience with tension-filled storytelling (and filmmaking) and captivating performances by its cast that leaves a lasting impression long after the credits roll. Here’s hoping that Tim Fehlbaum’s next directing effort will be just as impactful and moving as the film I just saw.