September 5 review – taut media procedural revisits Munich Olympics
Journalists take centre stage in Tim Fehlbaum’s tense thriller focusing on 1972’s infamous terrorist massacre through a TV crew lens
The story of the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist massacre – in which 11 Israeli hostages were killed by the Palestinian Black September group, dying along with five of members of the group and one West German police officer – is retold by the Swiss director and co-writer Tim Fehlbaum as a taut, tense thriller. The film leaves it up to us to make what we will of modern parallels.
The situation is reinvented as a kind of media procedural, shown purely from the viewpoint of ABC TV’s sports division, who from their cramped, claustrophobic gallery found themselves in sole charge of broadcasting the events live to the world. The crew is seen wheeling a cumbersome studio camera in range of the athletes’ village to capture images, quarrelling with other American TV companies about satellite-feed space. They’re under pressure to make unchecked statements to make sure their rivals didn’t get the scoop, making split-second editorial decisions with zero news experience while grimacing at the banks of TV screens like Houston Mission Control watching Apollo 13. And they were only aware too late that they were directly influencing what was happening, on the edge of panic at the responsibility and the sheer postmodern nightmare of what was happening.
Continue reading...Topics
-
Review: In the bloodless 'September 5,' TV producers tackle an infamous terrorist attack
Peter Sarsgaard and John Magaro play obsessive journalists in a thriller that takes place wholly within the ABC News control room during the 1972 Munich Games.Los Angeles Times - 2d -
How "September 5" revisits the live broadcast of the 1972 Munich Olympics tragedy
"September 5" tells the story of the live broadcast of the 1972 Munich Olympics tragedy, following the ABC sports broadcasting team as they reported on the hostage crisis.CBS News - 1d -
‘Can we show someone being shot?’: the tense true story behind September 5
The Oscar-tipped drama follows the ABC crew of journalists who had to cover the unfolding violence as terrorism overtook the the Munich Olympics in 1972. Geoffrey Mason had begun the day ...The Guardian - 3d -
Movie Review: ‘September 5’ goes inside a newsroom during the Munich Olympics hostage crisis
The new film “September 5" is a fictionalized account of ABC’s live coverage of the hostage crisis during the 1972 Munich OlympicsABC News - 3d -
5 Things Entrepreneurs Get Wrong About Social Media
Jasmine Star, founder of Social Curator, shares the most common mistakes founders should avoid making online.Inc. - 4d -
Sources: Ionescu has UCL procedure in thumb
Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu underwent a procedure Friday to stabilize the ulnar collateral ligament in her right thumb, sources told ESPN.ESPN - 6d -
"They're all gone": The tragedy of the 1972 Munich Olympics
At the 1972 Munich Olympics, Arab terrorists took the Israeli team hostage. Former news and sports exec Sean McManus, son of ABC Sports commentator Jim McKay, looks back on that tragedy, and of ...CBS News - 6d -
Reporting the tragedy of the 1972 Munich Olympics
ABC Sports was covering the 1972 Olympics, in Munich, Germany, when Arab terrorists armed with submachine guns took the Israeli team hostage. The fatal drama was carried live on television – an ...CBS News - 6d -
The ‘year of the stockpicker’ revisited
You won’t believe how it turned outFinancial Times - Dec. 6
More from The Guardian
-
South Korean officials seek stability as Joe Biden says alliance ‘linchpin’ in region
The Guardian - 3h -
Final five members of Bali Nine released from jail and back in Australia, PM announces
The Guardian - 4h -
Antony Blinken confirms ‘direct’ US contact with Syria’s rebel rulers HTS
The Guardian - 4h -
ABC News and George Stephanopoulos agree to $15m payout in Trump case
The Guardian - 11h -
Cyclone Chido hits France’s Mayotte archipelago, killing at least 11
The Guardian - 51m