| I wasn’t expecting September 5 to be a companion piece to Civil War (in a good way), but it basically is. An examination of the role journalists play in the coverage of a terrorist attack. In this particular case, sports journalists and the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attack. It is remarkable in how it’s able to keep its focus small but touch on so many relevant and important topics in both today’s world and in 1972. | | 2024
Directed by: Tim Fehlbaum
Screenplay by: Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum
and Alex David
Starring: John Magaro, Peter Sarsgaard
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ABC is on site at the Olympic village and producers are planning which sporting events to cover to keep Americans’ interest. There are three main producers – Geoff (John Magaro) is a junior producer about to run his first Olympics segment on a Cuba vs USA boxing match and is coming up with cold-war inspired headlines; his boss, Marvin (Ben Chaplin) thinks it’s crass to mix politics; but the executive in charge, Roone (Peter Sarsgaard) loves the idea, arguing that it’s not about politics but emotions.
In the early morning hours, with Geoff and a few other producers and assistants in the control room, gun shots are heard from the athletes’ village. And just like that it does become about politics. Sports journalists are pivoting on a dime uncovering the breaking news as it is happening and get it broadcast back to Americans for daytime and primetime coverage back home. Sports journalists are traditionally journalists first, they’re trained to figure out what needs to be known and how to answer it. It should not be forgotten that sports journalists have been responsible to breaking important news to the world – in recent times, the Penn State scandal, or fifty years ago, it was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
It’s a fast moving movie covering approximately one day in 90 minutes. Producers trying to predict where the story is headed to lead the audience – but at some point they start becoming the story. There is a moment half-way through and revealed in the trailer that everyone can see their broadcast, not just the Americans back home but the athletes, the hostages, the terrorists that they are covering also have TV.
The responsibility that journalists feel while they are covering the news as it is happening is a big proponent of the drama. In addition, it very smartly and efficiently touches on the misogyny of the time – there are only two female characters. One who appears to be a lower-level assistant/producer but is also the only person in the newsroom who speaks German and at multiple times needs to speak up and take control, the other a police negotiator who is never heard but only seen.
The event itself is interesting but the covering of it is a fascinating and engrossing thriller of real-time news production. The recreation of a 1970s TV control room is thoroughly impressive – it appears to be an unnoticeable mix of actual coverage of the time and then recreating coverage with the technology in use at the time.
September 5 is a smart, engrossing and fascinating story of the Munich massacre and the story of the breaking of the story. It’s a thoroughly impressive production, with an understated performance by John Magaro which will likely go unheralded, but partly because every part of this movie comes together so cohesively that it's hard to praise individual aspects.
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