September 5 (2024)

3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Munich Massacre

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Tim Fehlbaum's taut, gripping docudrama September 5 burrows itself into the weeds and stays there for the duration of this tragic tale, traveling completely back in time and capturing a vivid, urgent feel.

It's 1972 and the ABC sports team is set up on-site in Munich, to cover the Olympic Games in the first live-via-satellite broadcast. Executive Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), producer Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), and underling producer Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro) arrive at dawn to prepare for the day's coverage. Things start well when swimmer Mark Spitz wins another gold medal.

Suddenly, some of the crew members, including the German-speaking Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch), hear distant gunshots. As reports of terrorists and hostages come in, Geoff springs into action, setting up cameras and a feed for reporter Peter Jennings, who has found a safe place near the scene. Throughout the long day, the crew faces many challenges, such as losing the satellite, being threatened by German police, and, above all, finding elusive confirmation before facts are reported, especially when rumors begin to fly that the hostages are safe.

One of the most shocking things about September 5, at least at first, is the primitive analog technology, which was then cutting edge. Film was shot and developed, titles were done by hand (with little plastic letters), and walkie-talkies, rotary phones, and microphones were jerry-rigged together to provide a live feed.

The mood in the control room is tense, with characters thinking on their feet and communicating in shorthand. Their jobs are to figure out how to tell the story honestly, but also to figure out the most compelling way to tell it visually, for television. (Sometimes these two ideals butt heads against one another.)

The performances are solid across the board, but Sarsgaard, Chaplin, and especially Magaro — the decision makers — are captivating; we can see their brains whirling. (Sarsgaard has never been so intense as when he stands up to an armed German police officer and tells him to "get the f--k out of my control room!")

Steven Spielberg's Munich told a slightly different version of this story, following events for months and years later, but September 5 sticks just to the day, asking — but not necessarily answering — tough questions about this type of news coverage and what it means. It falters in its final minutes as it stoops to a bit of melodrama, but otherwise, it's a crackerjack heartbreaker of a movie.