Rating: 3.5 out of 4
Running Time: 95 minutes
This feature from Paramount Pictures opens exclusively in theaters on Friday, Jan. 17.
Anyone living in 1972 remembers the events surrounding the Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany in which several Israeli athletes were taken hostage by a very small, armed Palestinian faction. The Isreal-Palestinian conflict continues to be an extremely hot-button issue, but it actually isn’t the primary focus of the latest drama about the events. Instead, September 5 follows the ABC Wide World of Sports crew members who covered the story and, in the process, how their presentation changed news reporting forever.
Truth be told, the entire film is set within the broadcasting facility control room where the ABC news team was stationed. As members of the group slowly return to work in order to begin another day presenting live footage of Olympic events and interviews with athletes, rumors begin to spread that armed individuals have barged into one of the Olympic Village residences. ABC Sports president Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), head of operations Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin) and young fill-in control room head Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro) first argue with superiors to pay attention to the behind-the-scenes events, then scramble to figure out exactly what is going on and how to present the material to the public.
What viewers see is a very authentic and detailed presentation of a television studio dealing with a crisis. After a quick conversation or two setting up the station workers and broadcasting technology of the era, the story races forward and it never lets up. The group face problem after problem over the next 20 hours as they decide, unlike the other networks, to devote their attention to the Olympic Village and use sports reporters to deliver updates (much to the chagrin of the ABC News department). On a technical level, viewers see the creative ways they discuss and attempt to get film, as well as live cameras and equipment near the site. Most of this material is delivered through video feeds and conversations via phone and other audio signals, but it’s still dynamic and fascinating to see unfold.
And of course, the up-close-and-personal coverage raises plenty of concerns and disagreements between team members, some of whom have different views on how to proceed. The cast is uniformly stellar and believable in all their depictions as they strive to get the story out. Never for a moment do any of the discussions presented feel stilted or phony.
This is especially true when the main characters discuss what to do if violence breaks out live on camera. Another tense moment occurs when the control room is raided by the Munich police force, who point guns and tell them to shut down operations. Mason quickly realizes that authorities have failed to shut down power in the Olympic Village before a planned raid and that the hostage-takers are literally watching the live T.V. coverage to ready themselves. The movie also points out the failures of the Munich police force and local government, who appear more afraid of looking bad and dredging up memories of World War II than with finding a peaceful solution to the dilemma.
In the end, Swiss director Tim Fehlbaum avoids geopolitics. Instead, the movie inspires discussion about one of the biggest news stories in history (which some sources believe was watched by hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide), asking ethical questions about media coverage. The sports crew overcame incredible technical challenges and personal danger to present a story to the public, yet it’s also clear that it may have had an effect on the behavior of those involved. Naturally, it also changed how major news events have since been presented. September 5 is an impressively mounted and well-acted examination of the events that will stay with the viewer long after the credits roll.
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