September 5 (2024)

Sorkinesque remains a style that has traction even if Aaron's Sorkin's own star had faded a bit in Hollywood. We still see examples of TV and movies where characters, usually professionals, walk around furiously, spewing verbose dialogue at each other during some crisis debating the ethics of whatever issue is at hand with a cerebral humour and articulate cadence. There is a compelling energy to this style of storytelling and it generally requires its audience to pay attention. September 5 is another example of this, a concise and compelling rumination on journalistic responsibility and voyeurism related to tragedy. 

Set in the ABC sports newsroom during the 1972 Munich Olympics on the day when Israeli athletes were taken hostage, September 5 follows those sports reporters who were in the "right place at the right time" (a callous way to phrase it) to bring the story to the world. We see everything from their perspective so it is about how to react to events like this. The film focuses on people reacting, fumbling with an unexpected series of horrible events, and figuring out what to do as they juggle their professional, ethical, moral, and personal responsibilities. The film is fascinated with the fact this is Germany, 25 years after the concentration camps. It is centred around a mostly American crew, who are made up of a mix of Jews and non-Jews, and the false distance that their jobs are journalists is supposed to create but doesn't quite achieve. 

September 5 is rather short and doesn't always have time to get into much. It starts to float ideas and emotions but is fairly preoccupied with the urgency of what everyone is doing meaning there isn't a lot of time for reflection. The film occasionally takes a moment for pathos but not often and never quite wrestles with the political questions at heart of the events. Instead, and this is probably rather historically accurate, our subjects are simply dealing with something terrible unfolding in front of them and don't have time to weigh things with much depth. So by the end of the film's 94 minutes the characters are shaken as are we as the audience. 

September 5 handles its' visual storytelling very well. I appreciated how well the film's footage is mixed with the archival footage from the real events such as Jim McKay's and Peter Jennings' real reportings and interviews from that day. It all feels very cohesive which helps bring us into the moment. You'll feel something watching September 5 and the film doesn't want to give us answers or tell us how to feel which I appreciated. It also comes and goes and then its done, perhaps that says something too about how these events play out for those of us not directly effected. A lot of people lost their lives that day and a lot of other people continued on with theirs. There is a tension here that is interesting but also somewhat removed. It almost feels like driving by an accident, slowing down but not stopping, feeling moved but then continuing on. 

September 5

Starring: Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, Leonie Benesch

Director: Tim Fehlbaum

Writers: Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David