Tropic Sprockets / September 5

By Ian Brockway

Tim Fehlbaum directs the harrowing film “September 5” focusing on the events of 1972 during the Olympics which took place in Munich.

Centralized in the control room of an ABC sports unit, the film is a heart stopping minute by minute account of anxiety during a real time terrorist attack. Taking a cue from filmmaker Paul Greengrass, Fehlbaum does not spare our feelings. He is exacting and objective.

The film begins by highlighting an auspicious beloved moment: the Olympic broadcast. All goes smoothly. Some of the crew betray great fatigue. Then in a flash, most of the operators hear a series of short snaps and a pause. Fireworks? Gunshots?

Horrifyingly, it’s the latter.

Masked gunmen have stormed the Olympic village and taken hostages from the Israeli team. Shock. Sweat. Fear.

Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) is anguished but wants to outpace CBS News to document the story. CBS will not be bested.

Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro) tries his utmost to keep the story running live.

Central to the film is the question of broadcast ethics. Who has rights to tell the unfolding story in a time of crisis? Is it a news or a sports venue? What if a hostage is shot and killed on air?

Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch) takes center stage as a German control room operator.

The suspense and apprehension increase as each second passes. For a moment there is a whiff of levity as the voice of Howard Cosell is heard with trademark theatrics, but grimly he only affirms what the room fears most: nine hostages have been taken with murderous shots fired.

This real and very disturbing event has touches of surrealism. Just feet away from the shooting in the Olympic Village, athletes from other countries were sunbathing by the pool.

This dark period is compellingly told with grainy TV monitors, messy switchboards, and dense clouds of cigarette smoke, heavier in foreboding than anything depicted by the painter Rene Magritte.

It is reported that the Munich Massacre was the first time terrorism was broadcast on television as it occurred with some 900 million people watching. The group Black September claimed responsibility.

Write Ian at [email protected]

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