Current:Home > Contact'September 5' depicts shocking day when terrorism arrived at the Olympics -FundPrime
'September 5' depicts shocking day when terrorism arrived at the Olympics
View
Date:2025-04-18 05:49:33
On Sept. 5, 1972, Munich's Summer Olympics morphed in a gut-wrenching instant from the world's biggest sports story to a tragic news day when Palestinian terrorists took hostage and later killed 11 Israeli athletes.
The ABC Sports reporters on the scene who told the story live were not remotely prepared for that pivot. And yet the way they rose to the occasion is the heart of "September 5" (in select theaters now in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto, nationwide Jan. 17).
"We wanted to capture the frenetic pace of it all, how there was almost no room to breathe as this all unfolded," says Swiss director Tim Fehlbaum. "Speaking with the people who were there covering this horrible event in front of their eyes, it's clear there was a movie to be made here."
Join our Watch Party!Sign upto receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox.
What is the 'September 5' movie about?
The taut film explores how the U.S. team from ABC Sports, led by its now-legendary anchor Jim McKay, arrives at the games flying high. The network has secured a satellite that will allow the games to be broadcast live around the world.
Need a break?Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
But when echoes of gunfire in the athletes' dormitories turns into confirmation of two dead athletes and demands from a group called Black September, the Olympics script goes out the window. The drama revolves around how producer Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) rallies his troops to report a breaking event as it happened with comparatively primitive technology and an information vacuum.
Arledge, whose quick thinking in 1972 catapulted him to success in ABC's news division, snaps into action. He orders massive cameras tethered by long cables into the streets to better capture the hostage area; he gives the green light for staffers to pose as Olympians to get camera footage in and out of the athletes' village; and he pushes back on orders to relinquish the story to ABC News staffers sitting 4,000 miles away from the action in Manhattan.
Although one news reporter was already on the scene to help with Olympics coverage − Peter Jennings (Benjamin Walker), who later rose to fame as the network's main anchor − it was otherwise an improvised journalism ballet before a time when anyone with a smartphone in their pocket could capture and disseminate news.
'September 5' raises compelling questions about media ethics
For Sarsgaard, the questions posed by "September 5" echo across today's media landscape.
"This went from being the first time a sporting event of this kind was broadcast live, to being the first time a live camera was put on a hostage crisis," he says. "So today you have to ask, this tool that we have to see events of all kinds unfolding live, does that help us in terms of what journalism is supposed to do for society?"
In "September 5" as in real life, two ABC Sports producers − Geoffrey Mason (played by John Magaro) and Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin) − stop to ask profound questions in the midst of the chaos. As the minutes tick by and the tension grows, the men debate such issues as whether to show the terrorists on camera.
"It really was those conversations with Geoffrey who made me see how we could make this movie," says Fehlbaum. "We had to share a lot of the dilemmas that were coming up for these people very quickly."
Chaplin playing Bader is "the moral center of this movie, because he's asking things that needed to be asked," says Sarsgaard.
That would include simply how much of the hostage crisis to show a global audience live. Was it OK to show the hostages themselves, if they were spotted at gunpoint in the open? Was it fine to put a visual spotlight on the terrorists themselves? And what best to call the hostage takers, was terrorists appropriate?
The themes of 'September 5' have direct echoes in the 2023 tragedy in Israel
"September 5" will strike painful notes for those still reeling from the Hamas-led massacres of Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023. Fehlbaum says it is not the film's intention to re-open those wounds, and he points out that his film was already in post-production when those attacks happened.
"You can't separate the news today from what happened back in 1972, so of course there are some similarities," he says. "And the world we are living in today will undoubtedly have an influence on what people think when they see this movie. But really, our film is about a moment in media history, a turning point in the way news event were covered. My hope is that more broadly it will cause us to reflect on our current media environment."
The movie magic of "September 5" is that it takes you inside a room where a group of amped-up TV professionals are covering a live event. And whether that's a sporting contest or the Oscars or a human tragedy, the charged atmosphere in that room is essentially a constant, says Fehlbaum.
"I spent a lot of time researching control rooms and what happens in there," he says. "Whether you're covering a Knicks basketball game or a political rally, you have this very special feeling once the clock ticks down and suddenly, you're live. It's an energy that is absolutely unique."
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
veryGood! (4655)
Related
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- Who is Fran Drescher? What to know about the SAG-AFTRA president and sitcom star
- Oregon Allows a Controversial Fracked Gas Power Plant to Begin Construction
- Toxic algae is making people sick and killing animals – and it will likely get worse
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Homes evacuated after train derailment north of Philadelphia
- Medical debt affects millions, and advocates push IRS, consumer agency for relief
- From Denial to Ambiguity: A New Study Charts the Trajectory of ExxonMobil’s Climate Messaging
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- Warming Trends: A Potential Decline in Farmed Fish, Less Ice on Minnesota Lakes and a ‘Black Box’ for the Planet
Ranking
- California DMV apologizes for license plate that some say mocks Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- Is price gouging a problem?
- As Big Energy Gains, Can Europe’s Community Renewables Compete?
- In Pennsylvania’s Hotly Contested 17th Congressional District, Climate Change Takes a Backseat to Jobs and Economic Development
- Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
- Pregnant Kourtney Kardashian Reveals the Sex of Her and Travis Barker's Baby
- A new movement is creating ways for low-income people to invest in real estate
- The Home Edit's Clea Shearer Shares the Messy Truth About Her Cancer Recovery Experience
Recommendation
Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie return for an 'Encore,' reminisce about 'The Simple Life'
Phoenix shatters yet another heat record for big cities: Intense and unrelenting
Pollinator-Friendly Solar Could be a Win-Win for Climate and Landowners, but Greenwashing is a Worry
Kim Kardashian Shares Twinning Photo With Kourtney Kardashian From North West's Birthday Party
'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
Vine Star Tristan Simmonds Shares He’s Starting Testosterone After Coming Out as Transgender
Amber Heard Makes Red Carpet Return One Year After Johnny Depp Trial
Microsoft's new AI chatbot has been saying some 'crazy and unhinged things'
Like
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- Warming Trends: Swiping Right and Left for the Planet, Education as Climate Solution and Why It Might Be Hard to Find a Christmas Tree
- Does Nature Have Rights? A Burgeoning Legal Movement Says Rivers, Forests and Wildlife Have Standing, Too