SEPTEMBER 5
(director/writer: Tim Fehlbaum; screenwriter: Montz Binder, Alex David; cinematographer: Markus Forderer; editor: Hansjorg Weißbrich; music: Lorenz Dangel; cast: Petr Sarsgaard (Roone Arledge), John Magaro (Geoffrey Mason), Ben Chaplin (Marvin Bader), Leonie Benesch (Marianne Gebhardt), Zinedine Soualem (Jacques Lesgards), Georgina Rich (Gladys Deist), Corey Johnson (Hank Hanson), Marcus Rutherford (Carter Jeffrey), Daniel Adeosun (Gary Slaughter), Benjamin Walker (Peter Jennings), Ferdinand Dorfler (Hermann Jager), Solomon Mousley (Roone’s Assistant); Runtime: 95; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Mark Nolting, John Ira Palmer, Sean Penn, Philipp Trauer, John Wildermuth, Thomas Wobke; Projected Picture Works; 2025-USA/Germany, in English & German)
“Riveting true story of a tragedy.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Swiss filmmaker Tim Fehlbaum (“The Colony”/”Hell”) is director and writer of this riveting true story of a tragedy that diverted the ABC sports crew of its Olympic summer coverage from the Munich games on September 5th in 1972 to instead cover a hostage situation. It tells the story when a Palestine terrorist group took some members of the Israeli Olympic team hostages and of a bloody rescue mission. Fehlbaum co-writes the no-nonsense screenplay with Montz Binder & Alex David.
The historical live news coverage, unfolding in practically real time, is seen through the eyes of the ABC Olympic coverage team. Its task is to cover the horrible reality of the actual kidnappings and bloody massacre.
The insightful drama was seen on a live telecast by an estimated audience of over 900 million people worldwide.
The newbie producer Geoff Mason (John Magaro) hears gunshots in the morning from the Olympic Village and calls in the experienced executive Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) on his day off. Roone takes charge and decides to go with the ensuing story wherever it leads to rather than hand it over to the news division. The translator Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch) agrees to report from the field. Marianne is a German TV employee hired by ABC Sports.
The film blends together archival footage and a behind-the-scenes look at the control room handling the actual coverage. The ‘breaking news’ story as viewed from those with the inside track gives ABC the spark to beat out the other news outlets in the rating wars.
The performances are intense by Sarsgaard as the shrewd and risky producer in charge, by Ben Chaplin playing Martin Bader the chief of operations for ABC Sports, and by John Magaro as the adept producer for ABC Sports.
This was a tough event to cover because of the unpredictable violence. But the filmmaker does a first-rate job providing us with a vivid reminder of that awful time.
It played at the Venice Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 1/9/2024 GRADE: B+
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