On February 27, the historical drama thriller «September 5», based on a true story, was released in cinemas and tells the story of the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attack from the perspective of the ABC Sports crew and their coverage of those tragic events. The film was nominated for a «Golden Globe» for Best Drama and a «Oscar» for Best Original Screenplay. Read the review below to find out whether it is worth watching.
Genre historical drama, thriller
Director Tim Fehlbaum
Starring Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, Leonie Benesch, Zinedine Zuallam, Corey Johnson, Georgina Rich, Benjamin Walker, Roni Herman, Paul Boehme
Premiere movie theaters
Year of release 2025
Website IMDb
ABC Sports journalists had just finished a report on the victory of American swimmer Mark Spitz at the 1972 Munich Olympics and were routinely preparing for the next day’s sporting events. Suddenly, early in the morning, in the darkness, some of them heard the distant sounds of machine gun fire coming from the Olympic village. As it would become known a little later, it was Palestinian radicals from the «Black September» group who had taken the athletes and coaches of the Israeli national team hostage.
Without hesitation, the ABC Sports team began to cover the hostage taking live from the scene. The team of sportscasters used all their resources and even went to some lengths to not only keep the job from being left to the newsmen, but also to get as much fresh information as possible. They produced a truly sensational story. This would be watched with concern by the whole world.
A little less than 20 years ago, Steven Spielberg himself addressed the tragic events of the 1972 Summer Olympics in his film «Munich». Interestingly, as in the case of «September 5», which was widely released on January 17, that film also reached Ukrainian cinemas with a delay and premiered only in February 2006.
However, despite the common catalyst of the plot, the view of the Munich massacre in these two pictures differs significantly. If «Munich» was about the hunt for «Black September», that is, it was about retribution organized by the Israeli government and Mossad agents, the authors of «September 5» propose to look at the story from the perspective of outside observers, which are American journalists.
But did they really have any impact on the situation? After all, to find out what was happening around them, the terrorists only had to turn on the TV, where the events were covered in real time. And West German officials and police, who were completely unprepared for such a course of events, did not even bother to turn off the electricity in the building where the armed Palestinians were stationed.
This nuance leads to important theses embedded in the local narrative: how ethically adequate was the work of the team of journalists? Are they entitled to demonstrate an alleged massacre on live television? Can they voice unconfirmed information from dubious sources? Aren’t all their efforts turning into an elementary pursuit of sensation? So powerful and exciting for the average viewer that it could get more views than the «Apollo 11» moon landing.
In this context, the character of John Magaro, who plays the editor in charge of the ether, Jeffrey Mason, is the most telling. After the disastrous outcome of the hostage rescue operation is confirmed and all the cameras are turned off, he seems to never be the same again.
Another striking factor in the story is that, despite the situation, sports competitions continued for some time until the IOC was simply forced to announce their suspension. That is, while the Israeli hostages were on the verge of life and death, somewhere not far away, people were playing volleyball or cheering for their favorite boxer in a crowded hall.
The main events of the film take place in a small room where journalistic work is in full swing; Marcus Förderer’s camera rarely leaves it. As a result, the authors manage to achieve a suffocating, claustrophobic and tense atmosphere, and this allows you to follow what is happening on the screen with genuine interest. Neither the TV workers nor the viewers can take a break from their work.
At the same time, the filmmakers successfully synchronized the script with archival footage, in particular, an authentic broadcast from the studio, where the popular sports journalist Jim McKay was the host. The movie includes interviews which he picked up from Israeli weightlifting coach Tuvia Sokolsky, as well as his phrase «When I was a child, my father used to say: “Our greatest hopes and worst fears rarely come true.” Tonight, our worst fears have come true».
There are no outstanding acting performances in «September 5», but during the screening, one gets the strong impression that everyone is in their place.
Each of the performers is a cog in a well-oiled machine, from the steadfast Peter Sarsgaard, who embodied ABC Sports president Roone Arledge, to Leonie Benesch, who played the German translator Marianne Gebhardt. The latter has a particularly difficult time accepting the utterly unacceptable failure of her country, for which this Olympics had important political and image significance.
In these turbulent times, particularly in the Middle East, «September 5» looks more relevant than ever, and its ability to engage the viewer in the story is beyond question. However, this story ends — with the happy ending that everyone wants or with a painful catastrophe — in any case, the American journalists have produced an excellent piece. And even a prematurely announced insight that gave people vain hope is no reason not to be proud of the work done, is it?