How was Germany allowed to host another Olympic games? Did we all temporarily undergo collective “Holocaust Amnesia?” Did they pinky promise, “This time, no fascism?” Did the world run out of countries?
The quixotic selection of [West] Germany is, to me, is deeper mystery worth solving … but not today, for September 5 recalls the events of another German hosted Olympic games … and another blight on the Olympics, not unlike the one from 1936 in Berlin, where Adolf Hitler used the host position as a disgusting fascist platform.
It’s hard to say which German-hosted Olympics were actually worse, but a strong case can be made for the 1972 Munich games, for having a death toll. On September 5, 1972, a Palestinian terrorist group (Black September) decided there hadn’t been enough murder of Jews in Germany this century and took it upon themselves to kidnap, hold hostage, and eventually murder nine members of the Israel Olympic team.
There’s a better film about this material; it’s called Munich. But don’t let that deter you; September 5 is also a pretty good film.
Among the most intense films in several months, September 5 begins with a lazy look at the ABC Sports control room in the wee hours of the morning on the day in question. Because of the six-hour time delay, the American primetime feed from the games had just gone off air in NYC. It’s 3 am and the Olympic village ABC studio was down to a skeletal crew and looking to repair, reorganize, and reboot for the day ahead.
Suddenly, gunshots were heard in the Olympic village, not more than a block away from the studios. And before long, there was an international crisis, and the only people prepared to cover it were ABC sports exec Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) -currently asleep- and studio control coom manager Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro), both of whom had to negotiate any number of hurdles including what was going on? What could they film? And who had jurisdiction to cover it?
Oh, and all of this happened with 1972 tech – which means the employment of bulky walkie talkies and rotary phones were the order of the day. Perhaps the biggest issue here was: Is an ABC Sports crew poised to handle an international terrorist crisis? Roone Arledge decided not only were they capable of doing so, they NEEDED to do so as a duty to inform the world. Terrorism is not generally a subject where there are time splits, artistic merit scores, and medals awarded to the best … so the newsdesk community can be forgiven 
for being skeptical of sports covering the issue.
The peek into this world is both fascinating and aggravating. We get to know exactly what the film people are thinking and doing, and, yet, we at home knew almost exactly as much about the terrorist attack as the people who were closest to it. The film gets cameras aimed at the hostage apartment, but never gets a camera inside the crisis itself. It is fair to say that ABC presented us with as much as they could … which is almost everything they knew.
Because of the (relatively) seamless mix between historical stock footage and newly filmed material, September 5 reminds me of another docudrama biographical recreation in Good Night, and Good Luck. It’s worth note that I found said film both fascinating and frustrating as well. There’s only so much conversing with video tape one can do before you realize that the film is entirely dependent on primo editing. There’s also the part where the story people told about the coverage of the terror is secondary to the terror itself; it’s like getting behind the mindset of the guy who filmed the Hindenburg disaster – yes, that’s interesting … now tell me more about the disaster itself. You don’t have that? Oh well.
A lonely sports desk had to be the bearer
Of an Olympics quickly steeped in terror
The coverage, an infection
Yet fell short of perfection
But the Russian judge clearly scored it in error
Rated R, 95 Minutes
Director: Tim Fehlbaum
Writer: Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David
Genre: Not quite a Miracle
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: ABC Executives
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: German officials
