‘September 5’ Review
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict keeps bubbling to the surface when watching the events of the 1972 Munich Massacre—where Palestinian terrorists in the Olympic Village took members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage—unfold in Tim Fehlbaum’s latest film, September 5. However, as the film narrows its view on journalism ethics and the responsibility of journalists to balance timely reporting with accuracy and moral responsibility, Fehlbaum’s screenplay (co-written by Moritz Binder and Alex David) slowly attempts to shake free of the incendiary position it finds itself. An early acknowledgment from the president of ABC Sports, Roone Arledge (played by Peter Sarsgaard), states that the footage they choose to show “is not about politics; it’s about emotions.” That maintains throughout September 5: a nerve-wracking thriller that has something substantial to say about journalism more than it does the tragedy at its center and the politics of the Middle East that dominate the news cycle to this day.
September 5 is an inherently fascinating story to retell, especially from the newsroom's perspective. A competent but unproven Geoffrey Mason’s (John Magaro) shift covering the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, quickly turns into a potentially career-defining moment as shots are heard inside the Olympic Village, and the ABC Sports team can televise live coverage through new satellite technology. The first live broadcast of the Summer Olympics ended up being the first live coverage of a terrorist attack: members of Black September—a Palestinian terrorist group—infiltrated the Israeli quarters of the Olympic Village and took the team hostage. While the events that unfold are fairly well known at this point, mainly due to the attention brought to it thanks to being televised, September 5 still manages to be an edge-of-your-seat thriller, if only because the film’s focus never strays from the ABC control room.
Part of the tension that is felt in the film is due to the intense usage of close-ups and kinetic camerawork, combined with the breakneck editing that keeps the film's pace moving at a steady clip. Even moments where characters need patience tend to have the camera move frantically, emphasizing the high-stress environment that pushes the characters to act at a moment’s notice. It’s a flashy type of editing that strengthens the film’s purpose in demonstrating the conversations that don’t have time to happen. The minimalist setting of a few rooms within a building strips away potential distractions from the film while also assisting in keeping it lean and urgent. Set in the 1970s, there are also fewer distractions as reporters operate within a bubble, anxiously awaiting faxed confirmation or a telephone call to confirm facts.
It’s through the refusal to escape the confines of the makeshift newsroom that ABC has set up outside the Olympic Village that Fehlbaum finds an interesting lens to view the horrors of history - and only slightly removed from the way many witnessed the tragedy unfold through their television sets. There’s a gradual questioning of journalism quality during the live reporting of events as Geoffrey’s split-second decisions in the coverage of the terrorist attack find little time for scrutiny, the desire to deliver accurate information slips into the background, and being “first” takes hold. For all the timely elements in September 5, the ease of objectivity to be driven by emotions and urgency might be the most salient point at the heart of the screenplay. There’s no question by the end that Fehlbaum’s intent is not just to replay the events of September 5 from a different perspective but to interrogate how those particular moments of journalism relate to today’s thirst for second-to-second coverage.
There are still portions of the narrative itself that fall under scrutiny as the film continues—among those is the German perspective of hosting a global event that should have helped restore the country’s image but was further blackened by a terrorist attack fueled by prejudices and political motivations. Most of that conversation is steered by Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch), who is hired as a translator for the ABC Sports team and becomes their primary way of discovering what is happening outside the building. A German citizen anxious about the path forward for her country after World War II, Marianne is a character who has too much to do and is forced to be the sole representative of a country attempting to make amends for its past atrocities. It’s simply too much to put on a single person, and it would have been better executed if it had been allowed to be explored elsewhere as well. Every face-to-face conversation between her and Geoffrey contains some of the film’s rawest moments, but it’s a lot of responsibility to place on a single character and performance. Benesch makes the most of those moments to forge a standout performance, but it always feels like the film checking into the real world from its isolated vantage point.
The film’s refusal to substantially delve into the politics of the situation outside of a single character, the attention to detail of the setting and events, and some of the real-life coverage integrated into September 5 presents a matter-of-fact account of a tragedy where the politics of the situation is less important. The emotions matter, but in this case, it focuses on the feelings in the newsroom, not those affected by the events. Occasionally, someone will debate the morality of televising an execution or releasing information that might affect others, but it’s a movie more concerned with placing the audience on the edge of their seat than having them interrogate the film’s murky waters. However, for what the film is trying to do and the questions that it asks about ethics within journalism and the sacrifice of accuracy in the name of urgency, it’s incredibly effective. With a dependable ensemble cast that hits the right notes at the right time and production values that accurately convey the time and place, Fehlbaum’s September 5 is a well-crafted journalism thriller that never strays from its single motive.
