SEPTEMBER 5

“This is a film which succeeds because it does not burden itself with history or politics, or with their self-reflexive issues; it simply transcribes the professional callousness and voyeurism of live TV journalism concerned just to get the pictures and to wrap them up with a neat ending.

The film moves more freely because of its willed unconcern with the historical implications of the Munich hostage massacre; modern audiences may feel the contemporary context makes it naive or obtuse. But it’s a muscular, well-made picture with the tang of cold sweat.”

“When the first gunshots ring out announcing Black September’s attack on the Israeli athletic team at the start of historical thriller September 5, the news team smoking cigarettes outside their off-village base don’t initially register what’s going on. It also signals the start of filmmaker Tim Fehlbaum’s choice to keep the ensuing horror at arm’s length, while the small team from ABC Sports stumble through what will become a historic day for news reporting.

For this is where Fehlbaum puts the film’s focus: on the men and woman behind the broadcast, with the events largely playing out on studio monitors. John Magaro, a convincingly anxious yet energetic presence, drives the story as Geoffrey Mason, a relatively green studio director who clocks in for what he thinks will be a day of live games coverage, only to be thrown into documenting a perilous stand-off while the world watches.”

Film Facts

• Extensive research ensured that the behind the scenes coverage is true to the TV equipment used at the time.
• British Actors Ben Chaplin and Marcus Rutherford both play Americans.