The story of the horrifying crisis at the 1972 Munich Olympics, where militant Palestinian terrorists known as Black September took the entire Israeli team hostage, killing all, has been told many times via TV movies, as well as a different perspective in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated Munich. That widely praised 2005 film followed the hunt for the terrorists. Now comes a completely different and absolutely riveting account in September 5, a docudrama set almost entirely in the ABC control booth where the network’s sports crew was headquartered to cover the games as a live TV event. No one could have foreseen the drama that would unfold over 22 tense hours as this group of television professionals, inexperienced in hard news, would have to switch gears and bring these tragic, unfolding events in real time to billions around the globe.
Swiss-born director Tim Fehlbaum, working from a screenplay he wrote with German writer Moritz Binder, has delivered a unique kind of play-by-play scenario by chronicling this story from the point of view of those watching it unfold in front of a wall of TV monitors as they deal with their own horror at what is happening and must make key decisions on how to cover something where they have no idea of how it will end. How they deal with it in a broadcast booth calling the shots, making risky journalistic judgements on the spot, and determining how far to go with a potentially ultra violent situation, is the crux of this tight 94-minute white-knuckle thriller.
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Fehlbaum lets it all unfold as it is business as usual for Olympic coverage, the volleyball teams still in the midst of their games, and otherwise fairly quiet. Slowly dread rears its head as rumors of shots being fired start spreading and make their way to the German associate Marianne (Leonie Benesch) who interprets what she is hearing to her colleagues including producer Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro), who in no time finds himself thrust into taking charge of the coverage when it becomes clear there is a hostage takeover, and the Israeli team is the target. Word comes that one hostage has been killed and others will also be murdered every hour until demands are met. Mason quickly wakes up ABC Sports head Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), who jumps into action trying to negotiate unplanned satellite time in order to pivot from sports to live coverage of a major worldwide news story. Also in the mix is another executive, Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), who becomes a source of conflict with Mason on how to proceed.
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With images of the terrorists being televised, the crew also must deal with no-nonsense German police, who, fearing their attempts to intervene are being harmed, attempt to shut down the broadcast. We also see actual footage of anchor Jim McKay on air as he is fed information from the booth, as well as actual audio of sportscaster Howard Cosell, who is in the center of the action. ABC News anchor Peter Jennings also is a factor, complicating Mason’s and his team’s job by questioning whether it should all be turned over to the news division. That is roundly dismissed by Mason and Arledge, who believe those on the ground in Munich there to cover the Olympics should also be the ones to do this rather than others in New York City. And boy, do they ever.
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Tensions really start to boil as things become dire, but at every turn they find a way to get this on the air, even sending in equipment by disguising a staffer — fake credentials and all — in order to gain access inside the Olympic Village. The most notable scene comes later in the film as word comes that all the hostages, who have been taken to an airport by their captors, are safe after being rescued. Is this real? How do they know? How can they verify it? Is it better to be right, or first? All this comes into view as we watch the seat-of-the-pants decision-making, particularly by Mason, who makes a fateful call.
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The acting across the board is superb, with especially Magaro sensational as a man trying desperately to rise to the occasion against all odds. Fehlbaum has shot all this within an inch of his life, aided by brilliant cinematographer Marcus Forderer and flawless editing by Hansjorg Weissbrich. Lorenz Dangel’s music is used subtly but effectively, and the proportion of actual footage from ABC’s broadcast is pitch perfect here, melding impressively with the film’s created action. Think what Paul Greengrass did in his Oscar-nominated docudrama United 93, about events on one of the planes during 9/11, and you will get an idea of what September 5 is all about.
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Taking a story that is now 52 years old and making it not just relevant but newly inspiring, in terms of the Herculean human effort by this team of professionals who left it all on the field, is no small feat. September 5 succeeds on every level. It is world premiering in the Horizon section of the Venice Film Festival, and also will have its North American premiere in Telluride.
Producers are Phillip Trauer, Thomas Wobke, Fehlbaum, Sean Penn, John Ira Palmer and John Wildermuth.
Title: September 5
Festivals: Venice (Horizon Extra), Telluride
Distributor: Republic Pictures
Director: Tim Fehlbaum
Screenwriters: Tim Fehlbaum, Moritz Binder
Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, Leonie Benesch, Corey Johnson, Georgina Rich
Running time: 1 hr 34 mins
