Aahana Swrup
‘September 5’ is an intensely electrifying film about a hostage situation that unfolds on national television. It’s set in 1972 in Munich, during the Olympics, when a group of terrorists take control of an area in the Olympic Village to sequester Israeli athletes, coaches, and more as their hostages. Consequently, Roone Arledge from ABC Sports and his team of journalists, including Geoffrey Mason, shift their focus from the Olympic coverage to the fatal situation unfolding around a hundred yards away from them.
The film highlights the perspective of these reporters who are unceremoniously thrown into the biggest test of their journalistic integrity—all the while watching a tragedy unravel in front of their eyes. As such, this Tim Fehlbaum directorial offers a unique approach to a movie about terrorism. For the same reason, the audience must be interested in taking a dive into the real-life origins of the story.
September 5 is Based on the Real Life Events of the 1972 Summer Olympics
‘September 5’ sports a firm basis in reality with roots in the real-life terrorist attack known as the Munich Massacre. The film remains directly biographical to the events that took place on September 5, 1972, in Munich during the Summer Olympics. The event marked a significant opportunity for Germany to put out a democratic and cheerful image to the international audience. In the past, when the country hosted the games, it was in 1936 under Hitler’s Nazi rule. Therefore, decades after the dictator’s defeat, Germany was eager to distance itself from its past with the Olympics. Nonetheless, a horrifyingly tragic series of events ended up overshadowing the entire affair.
On the morning of September 5, 1972, a group of armed terrorists—later identified to be members of the Palestinian militant group Black September—broke into the Olympic Village and took 12 individuals—athletes, coaches, and judges alike—hostage. Notably, several of these hostages were members of the Israeli delegation. As the Olympic Village residents tried to fight back against their aggregators in an attempt to save their lives, the terrorists ended up killing Israeli Weightlifter Yossef Romano and wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg. The Black September called for the release of multiple prisoners and threatened to kill one hostage every hour if the authorities didn’t meet their demands.
Meanwhile, Roone Arledge, the president of ABC Sports, and his team found themselves confronted with the daunting task of covering the hostage situation from the nearby control room. Thus, Geoffrey Mason and his fellow journalists situated bulky cameras as close to the at-danger building as possible. Furthermore, some of his colleagues, including Peter Jennings, infiltrated the Olympic Village to report back on the hostage situation a few floors up from the scene. At one point, a police raid even made the journalists realize that the terrorists were tuned in to their reporting of the event, which could give them an advantage against the authorities. Simultaneously, Arledge also had to fight for journalistic control over the situation as the ABC News department attempted to take hold of the story.
Ultimately, the rescue plans that the German authorities enacted ended up failing. As such, an attempted rescue at an airfield resulted in a gunfight between the terrorists and the police, which ended in the deaths of the remaining hostages. The traumatizing event led to several other tragedies, such as Israel’s air attacks and bombings in Lebanon and Syria. It also left an indelible mark on the world and the reports who were intimately involved in bringing the tragedy’s truth to the world. In a conversation with Time Magazine, Roone Arledge recalls his mindset in the aftermath, in which he found himself thinking, “This is all so unfair. These young people were just trying to represent their country and to pursue excellence in front of the world, and they were deprived of that opportunity.”
Journalist Geoffrey Mason’s Contribution Adds to the Film’s Realism
The Munich massacre has been a subject of cinematic attention in the past, including in the 2005 Steven Spielberg film ‘Munich.’ However, ‘September 5’ distinguishes itself through its focus on the ABC Sports journalism team. Tim Fehlbaum was reportedly inspired to tell this story after he and others involved in the production had a conversation with the real-life Geoffrey Mason. The journalist’s vivid memory of the fateful day and his team’s efforts in bringing the story to the world provided a uniquely authentic outlook on the tragic event.
“Listening to his stories and what he experienced during this 22-hour marathon of broadcasting on this crisis situation back then in Munich,” Fehlbaum told The Hollywood Reporter in a conversation about his collaboration with Mason. “That was the moment when we thought that would actually be worth a movie.” Therefore, the real-life journalist’s distinct perspective on the historical event defines the narrative and thematic identity of Fehlbaum’s project.
Fehlbaum and his fellow screenwriters Moritz Binder and Alex David reportedly consulted on the script with Mason, who shared realistic accounts of his experiences. As a result, the on-screen narrative remains laced with historical accuracy and authenticity that is crucial in a cinematic retelling of its kind. Furthermore, the crew was dedicated to maintaining this level of realism in other aspects of the film. As a result, the control room—which becomes the central setting in the journalist’s story of the hostage situation coverage—remains impressively accurate to period-appropriate details. This includes authentic equipment, such as cameras from the 1970s, landline phones, and other machinery.
As such, the film ensures that the world built around the central journalists remains steeped in realism to add to their narratives. This further accentuates the story’s focus on the themes of the significance behind the responsibility of journalism. Ultimately, ‘September 5’ succeeds in its historical retelling of a hostage situation that devolved into tragedy. It notably adds to the story through a realistic depiction of the stories of the journalists involved in the event.
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