4 out of 5
September 5 is an intensely gripping dramatisation of ABC Sports News’ moment-to-moment, live, on air coverage of the shocking Palestinian terrorist massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich in 1972. ABC’s live coverage was a first. Seen by millions of viewers around the world, it was the first such on the scene ‘as it happens’ reportage of an international breaking news story. It was a precedent-setting achievement in news gathering.
Although the horrendous deadly outcome of the attack is widely known, September 5 is such an authentic and detailed account of what happened, as seen from the news team’s point of view, that it feels like an observational documentary, one that puts you inside ABC’s broadcast control room with the news team as they synthesise updates from reporters, German and Olympic authorities and other sources, and manage their technical resources to get accurate information to the millions of viewers worldwide who were galvanized to their TV sets.
It is fascinating to watch Roone Arledge (a superb performance by Peter Sarsgaard), Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro), Marvin Bader (Ben Chapin) and other production executives grapple with how to present the terrifying, devastating event. In addition to making sure their reportage was prioritised in the satellite feed and accurate rather than speculative, they were facing and deciding serious ethical questions — for example, should the murder of one of the athletes be live televised when the victim’s family is watching the broadcast from home?
The film also places a strong and complex female character at the center of the news gathering operation. Leoni Benesch (The Teacher’s Lounge) plays Marianne Gebhardt, a German translator/news assistant/go-for who is a low level member of the team until she becomes absolutely essential to the newsgathering efforts because of her language skills and strong journalistic instincts. Marianne Gebhardt was really in the broadcast control room, but is a composite character for the purposes of the film. That said, the script and Benesch’s brilliant performance present her as very, very smart and capable, and give her deeply complex, visceral reactions to the attack against Jews on German soil, just miles away from the location of a Nazi death camp that had been visited by the Israeli team just days before.
The film’s documentary feel of real is enhanced by the perfect use and integration of archival footage of the Olympic Village’s lifestyle, pomp and ceremony and ongoing competitions, as well as aired footage of the balcony where masked terrorists periodically appeared, and actual on air clips of legendary ABC Sports anchor Jim McKay delivering updates and interviewing witnesses.
Craft-wise, September 5‘s direction (Tim Fehlbaum), script (Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David), cinematography (Markus Förderer), production design (Julian R. Wagner), editing (Hansjörg Weißbrich) and performances are absolutely spot on for a ‘you are there’ viewer experience.
Filtering the shocking events through the news team’s actions and perspective on the attack is a most effective way to engage the audience’s visceral response. September 5 really explodes off the screen. Without one minute of sensationalism, car chases and crashes, or depicted violence, September 5 is a 95-minute adrenalin rush.
One of its strengths is the film's ability to tell its story, convincingly and emphatically in 95 minutes. It is a lesson in film-making that in the era of three and a half hour epics (I'm looking at you The Brutalist), is skillful and refreshing.
Aside from its affecting dramatic impact, September 5 carries a meaningful and very timely message about the need for transparency and authenticity in gathering and delivering the news.
At a time when the accurate news flow is flooded with mendacious commentary and dangerous misrepresentations, it is a clear reminder that honest, thorough, balanced and objective reporting is essential to our democratic way of life.