September 5 (2024)
A solid journalistic thriller despite an over-reliance on scripting, September 5 brings to life the inner workings of what it’s like to handle a world event in real-time, presenting concepts of ethics, sensitivity, and respect in a tight 94-minute package that never stops rolling.
For starters, it’s incredibly, and I mean, incredibly ironic that this piece about the 1972 tragedy at the Munich Olympics is being released in this day and age. Given that the incident somewhat relates to a current global conflict, it can’t help but be felt that the roles in this film should be more analyzed. This film is slightly one-sided and doesn’t bother with objectivity for the most part. It feels like a “good v. evil” conflict, one that doesn’t bother to mention what the other side’s issue is beyond “free war prisoners.”
Set almost entirely in the ABC News studio in Munich, West Germany, this film, despite its shortcomings, knows how to build nuance and tension. When everyone’s covering normalcy with volleyball and boxing events in the Olympics, there’s a sense of collectivism among those involved. A news station is like a machine, and fortunately, this portrayal of one has a well-defined team to run it. Even in stress, everything is still thought out and feels very realistic. With it being sequential, my only complaint is that it feels too scripted at times, with the direction being obvious to even a newcomer to the titular event, such as myself.
Dabbling in ethos, there are pivotal questions regarding morality and sensitivity, most notably in the fields of hostage privacy and content restrictions. Given this is pre-internet, which revolutionized the communication industry, there are concerns about what should be shown to a national audience on network TV. The script acknowledges this briefly, and the definition it gives viewers feels just barebones enough to work for most audiences. For people like me, it might be frustrating to witness, simply for the reason of there not being enough spine to the core arguments it presents.
One of the shining leads here is John Magaro (”Past Lives, “First Cow) as newsroom leader Geoffrey Mason. Exemplifying qualities such as determination, awareness, and a straightforward attitude, his character is the ideal one to take charge in a critical situation like this, making stuff happen while never buckling down under pressure. The supporting cast includes such names as Leonie Benesch (”The Teachers’ Lounge”) and Benjamin Walker (”In the Heart of the Sea”), with both giving satisfactory performances as a translator and a news anchor respectively.
Overall, September 5 is the type of film that will be played in lectures for years to come and is slightly deserving of praise due to strong journalistic themes, despite it being not free of controversy that’ll more than likely get the film buried this awards season.
6.5/10 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
Where to Watch: In Theaters
