“September 5” Review
In a control booth in Munich, a team of sports reporters cover one of the most infamous terrorist attacks in history in the film “September 5”.
Perhaps it’s because I studied journalism in college and spent four years working for the school newspaper but I’m a sucker for a good journalism film. With their often underdog stories of reporters uncovering the truth, there’s a lot to love about them. They’re often paced well as the reporters and editors battle deadlines and obstacles to get the scoop on what’s going on. In the past decade, we’ve had quite a few excellent titles to choose from in this genre including “She Said”, “The Post” and the Best Picture-winning “Spotlight”. Now, “September 5” makes a bold mark on this genre with thrilling suspense, strong questions of journalistic ethics and a narrative whose impact can still be felt today.
During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany, 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September in an act of horrific violence that shocked the entire world. While the rest of the world’s media were struggling to get the story from the sealed Olympic Village, a crew of sports television journalists from ABC were hundreds of yards away to provide coverage of the unfolding horrors. “September 5” focuses on how the journalists were able to pull off their revolutionary coverage of the first terrorist attack broadcast on live television and how they did it with a balance of commitment to the facts and journalistic ethics.
Filled with a love for journalism and a sense of admiration for the actions of the ABC crew on that day, “September 5” throws the audience completely into this tense environment with a real documentary feel to the whole production. With handheld camera shots and the use of zooms, cinematographer Markus Föderer and director Tim Fehlbaum make a fast-paced atmosphere that resembles many of the great thrillers of the 70s including “Marathon Man”, “Three Days of the Condor” and, another journalism classic, “All The President’s Men”. Like another classic of journalism films, “Good Night and Good Luck”, “September 5” avoids recreating iconic moments from the broadcast by having the actors look at the actual footage of the unfolding story and archival footage of anchor Jim McKay reading what the actors are feeding him. It’s a blend of cinema and reality that only serves to bring the audience more into the story.
What’s even more astounding is that the film’s Oscar-nominated screenplay is original. Obviously the events of the film are very much from our past but “September 5” isn’t based on any book which is the traditional route a period piece like this would take. Instead, writers Mortiz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum and Alex David did painstaking research to find out what went down and then formed it into a screenplay that thrives on realism. This statement isn’t meant to put down screenwriters who adapt books into films. After all, that’s very challenging as well but it does show just how much effort the writers put into telling this story with the dignity it deserves.
In this studio, a team of journalists who went to Munich to cover sports find themselves covering one of the most infamous terrorist attacks of all time, unwilling to give the story to ABC’s News division because they know that they are close enough to the Olympic Village to best document the crisis. With a more-than-capable cast, “September 5” gives great dimension to its characters and how they can switch from being analytical reporters to people being subjected to the trauma of witnessing violence and how this skill is essential for journalism. Peter Sarsgaard astrounds in his performance as ABC Sports president Roone Arledge whose tenacity protects the station from all the entities who want to take the story away from his division whether they’re other networks or the West German police.
Ben Chaplin is also compelling in his performance as head of operation Marvin Bader whose Jewish heritage makes the story especially personal and who brings up many questions of ethics that the other journalists have to think about. Like what if someone is shot on air? Can they even show that on television and should they? Could the terrorists be able to watch the broadcast and, if so, how does that affect the information they reveal? How do they even address the story as it pertains to the overall conflict in the Middle East? These are tough questions to answer but the film makes the effort to show the steps these journalists took to address them while also portraying them in a very realistic light.
Playing translator Marianne Gebhardt, Leonie Benesch undergoes quite the transformation as her routine job of transcribing languages like German and Hebrew into English is suddenly more urgent since she has to understand and relay the information of police dispatches and local broadcasts. Gebhardt’s dedication and Benesch’s performance work marvelously in showing how great things are often asked of people who weren't expecting them.
But my absolute favorite performance in the film goes to John Magaro whose portrayal of Geoffrey Mason showcases a real evolution in the world of journalism under extreme circumstances. Even before the Israeli athletes are taken hostage, Magaro is established as being new to a broadcast of this size, having previously worked on covering golf tournaments and minor league baseball. But when the crisis occurs, Magaro finds himself controlling the broadcast room, relaying orders and overseeing the transmission of vital information to an audience bigger than the one that watched Neil Armstrong land on The Moon.
An element that Fehlbaum depicts that I found to be fascinating was how we’re able to compartmentalize acts of horror. As the crisis unfolds, various Olympic games are still going on and it’s interesting to see just how good people can be at moving on from the most terrible things that are happening to our fellow man. The only ones who seem incapable of this are the terrified hostages hoping for salvation and the journalists hoping for the same but under different circumstances.
With the work of journalists often subjected to needless harassment and discrimination, films like “September 5” remind us of the power and responsibility the press has. It’s a job of immense difficulty and, as the actions of the journalists in this film show, one that does not get as much credit as it deserves.
