PalCinema Review: September 5

January 15, 2025

FILM: SEPTEMBER 5

DIRECTED BY: TIM FEHLBAUM

STARRING: PETER SARGAARD, JOHN MAGARO, BEN CHAPLIN

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

By Dan Pal

The title of this film refers to a date that hasn’t gotten as much historical attention as 9/11 and Jan. 6^th have but perhaps it should. That is the date when, in 1972, Israeli athletes competing in the Munich Olympics were taken hostage by terrorists demanding the release of some two hundred Palestinians. While the era is different, the conflicts remain. Much of what we heard then, as now, comes from our news correspondents. The film September 5 follows the tension as the day went on among an ABC sports crew covering the Olympics. It features a dramatic recreation of the day with some finely incorporated actual footage that was shot as the events unfolded.

The story is presented in mostly real time with the usual behind the scenes work and scrambling of the production crew. If you’ve seen the AppleTV+ series Morning Show or even going back a few decades to James L. Brooks’s classic film Broadcast News, you’ll have a pretty good idea about what I mean. September 5 looks less glossy and certainly less filled with the soap opera-like storylines of the former. There’s also no sense of the romantic comedy elements present in the latter. Instead, the film wisely lets the events unfold somewhat dramatically from the initial sounds of gunshots in the Olympic Village to a climactic shootout at the local airport.

An excellent music score accompanies the building tension throughout the film. For the most part, everything that we experience takes place in the crew’s control room in Munich. Since this is a sports crew, there are plenty of behind-the-scenes conflicts as ABC’s New York-based news division wants its say as to how to capture the events. The sports division is trying to take ownership over its own first-hand coverage and then there is a timing issue and competition with CBS.

A big budget Hollywood version of this story, for better or for worse, would take us right into the buildings and airport where much of the drama is unfolding. Some audience members may have found such an approach more compelling than what director Tim Fehlbaum achieves here. His version is more physically and perhaps emotionally distant. While we’re left to contemplate whether the news/sports perspective is all about ratings, competition, and producing something historical, what is lost is some of the more viscerally affecting moments we might see in a larger Hollywood film or a documentary on the subject. Does this negatively impact the film? Not really, but one does have to understand what these news/sports crews are attempting and what this professional competition is all about to fully empathize with their professional conflicts.

The actors playing the key figures here are very good at establishing a sense of dramatic tension though. Chief among them is John Magaro as Geoffrey Mason who is essentially directing the coverage. He’s an underrated actor who has given great performances in films such as Past Lives, Showing Up, and First Cow. He’s tough and driven here as he battles the news forces around him, played by Peter Sarsgaard and Ben Chaplin.

The other highlight of the film is the precise editing which not only creates a mostly tension-filled pacing but also a seamless incorporation of actual news and Olympic footage from the time. The cinematography is a bit more grainy looking than we might be used to today but I think it works great as it captures the feeling of a 1972 movie and allows for less of a stark contrast in the various pieces of footage that are edited together here.

In the end the film explores what a news crew has to experience during intense moments such as these. Are they creating history or are they simply observers? Do they make a difference due to their work or do they feel just as emotionally affected as we do as viewers?

September 5 opens in wide theatrical release this week.

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