During the 1972 Munich Olympics, an American sports broadcasting crew finds itself thrust into covering the hostage crisis involving Israeli athletes.
Director: Tim Fehlbaum
Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, Leonie Benesch, Zinedine Soualem
Release Date: December 13, 2024
Genre: Drama, History, Thriller
Rated R for language.
Runtime: 1h 35m
Review:
Tim Fehlbaum's September 5 is a tense retelling of the 1972 Munich massacre told with an "in the moment" immediacy that recounts the tragic events of that day and powered by an excellent ensemble cast. Told almost exclusively from the ABC sport production point of view gives the audience a sense of the unexpected and unsettling nature of events as they unfold. Events are condensed for maximum efficiency but it’s still a fairly accurate retelling that hits the main points of what occurred on that faithful day. Fehlbaum creates an environment that leaves his cast of characters with a moral quandary the actual people had to deal with as events shifted over the course of the day. There are more than a few bits of retroactive pontificating on how this moment could set journalism on a more sensationalized slant going forward which breaks up the sense of realism built up throughout. Small moments like that do lean more towards didacticism, which feels unnecessary since we live in the reality of Sidney Lumet's classic film, Network, come to life. His cast does manage to keep everything grounded performances that speak to humanity and the fallibility of people making decisions while traversing uncharted ground. Peter Sarsgaard brings a decisive, unemotional pragmatism to his turn as ABC Sports president Roone Arledge who clearly grasp some of the larger scale implications of the situation. John Magaro has a sort of nervous energy as the head of the control room, Geoffrey Mason, who is initially out of his depth before he slowly gains confidence despite any moral questions that continually arise. Ben Chaplin brings a strong sense of journalistic integrity to Marvin Bader, the head of operation at ABC Sports, who consistently runs on a razors edge as he tries to counsel on the most prudent path to take. Leonie Benesch's German translator, Leonie Benesch, a composite character of multiple real-life people who served in that capacity during the crisis serves as the film's tortured soul. The ensemble works incredibly well together to reflect an authentic sense of fallible people with varying agendas flying by the seat of their pants in the face of an unprecedented situation. Intersplicing bits of actual broadcast footage adds to the overall feeling of being in the room as these events occurred. September 5 isn't interested in exploring the causes that led to this, but it excels as a singularly focused recreation.
A
