‘September 5’ - Review
Based on true events, September 5 chronicles the ABC Sports broadcasting team that covered the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich, where a tense hostage situation suddenly unfolded involving Israeli athletes just a couple of miles away. In this fast-paced, procedural journalistic thriller, sports broadcasters and producers are faced with difficult moral choices about what should be shown versus what must be shown, all while the lives of eleven hostages hang in the balance.
The relevance of September 5 can’t be understated. Often, I find myself questioning the moral sensibilities of what people post in this quick-consumption digital age. Hate speech, tragedy, and violence can all be found within just a few scrolls on your favorite platform. Little is done about the matter, which I assume is because of how much we have been exposed to these sensitive subjects. Our desensitization to obscene content must stem from news and broadcast media. Sure, there’s a stark difference between the daily news and what one may see while scrolling on TikTok, but what remains the same between both is the lack of moral questioning before hitting “go live.”
September 5 proves this with its collected cast of characters, primarily Geoffrey Mason (played by John Magaro) and Roone Arledge (played by Peter Sarsgaard), who constantly push this delicate matter to the extreme.
“It’s not about politics; it’s about emotions” is a line from the beginning that echoes throughout this 90-minute, self-contained romp. Delivered by Peter Sarsgaard’s character with a chilling, cold tone, it makes clear from the start that these producers and broadcasters are, in contrast, devoid of emotion. Lacking that emotional bone makes the hard choices easier and the story to broadcast more authentic. These hard-nosed characters, with their clinical, objective, procedural approach, make for a fascinating study of borderline unlikeable yet watchable figures.
Consistently throughout the runtime, questionable choices are made—some even indirectly endangering the hostages. And yet, they continue to roll the dice. The movie’s unwillingness to redeem these characters in any shape or form is one of its strengths, making the tragedy they’re covering all the more eye-opening.
If you’re unfamiliar with this story, I would be remiss not to mention that the people who took these Israeli athletes hostage were Palestinian. This is pressing, of course, given the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where more than 45,000 Palestinian lives have been lost. Is September 5 a story that is needed now? A movie that depicts Palestinians as killers? I’d say no. However, September 5 is still an airtight story that simply depicts the facts of what happened, including real live broadcasts from the events.
The movie takes no stance beyond its interrogation of unethical journalism. More than anything, September 5 wants to be a gripping thriller rather than a nuanced take on both sides of the conflict. Paced swiftly and full of great performances, this is a movie that rides on the hope you take it for what it is—and nothing more. And of course, Free Palestine.
