September 5 is a newsroom thriller that takes audiences behind-the-scenes as the ABC Sports crew covered the Munich Massacre in 1972.

“When I was a kid my father used to say, “Our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized.” Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They have now said there were 11 hostages; two were killed in their rooms this morn– yesterday morning, nine were killed at the airport tonight. They’re all gone. It’s all over. The Israeli Olympic team is destroyed. Much of it. But what will happen to the Games of the Twentieth Olympiad? None of us know what effect this will have on the course of world history.” – Jim McKay, ABC Sports, September 6, 1972

It is not an understatement to say that September 5 is a date that would impact how media covers the news. There were arguments taking place about whether News or Sports should cover the event. Sports ultimately won out, having been on the ground for the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics. Peter Jennings, the ABC Middle East Bureau chief, participated in the coverage. ABC would call veteran anchor Jim McKay into the studio on his day off. McKay would anchor the broadcast for 14 hours without a break, announcing the tragic news at 3:24 AM CET. Nearly a billion were watching the coverage. The International Olympic Committee would hold the first-ever official ceremony two days before the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  No moment of silence came during an Opening Ceremony until the 2020 (2021) Games in Tokyo, Japan. Another ceremony was held this past summer in Paris.

Behind the scenes, ABC executive Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) gives control to a young coordinating producer, Geoff Mason (John Magaro). Arledge also tells Mason not to disturb him before 10. The producer would have no choice after reports of gunshots in the nearby Olympic Village. German interpreter Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch) would be key in translating the German broadcast coverage. Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), working as head of operations for ABC Sports, is one of the few Jews working in the control room at the time. His conversation with Marianne is certainly a reminder of how different things were 30 years earlier.

Marvin Bader: Can you do me a favor? What’s Hans saying here?
Marianne Gebhardt: He is saying that the games are an opportunity to welcome the world to a new Germany, to move on from the past.
Marvin Bader: Yeah, sure.
Marianne Gebhardt: I mean, it’s what we all hope for…What else can we do but move on? Try to be better?
Marvin Bader: Your parents still around?
Marianne Gebhardt: Yes.
Marvin Bader: Let me guess, they didn’t know either.
Marianne Gebhardt: Well, I’m not them.
Marvin Bader: No, you’re not.

It’s not long into the film after their conversation that the sound of gunshots can be heard in the background. “Were those gunshots?” asks Jacques Lemaire (Zinedine Soualem), the technical director. To which German crew member Hermann Jäger (Ferdinand Dörfler) responds, “Tell the Frenchman, I still remember exactly what gunshots sound like.” One thing soon leads to another as they work to verify the gunfire and find out the target. Arledge, despite earlier promises to his daughters, soon rushes back to the studio offices for what would become a very long day.

Mason takes charge of the live coverage as the crew calls in Peter Jennings (Benjamin Walker) to use his expertise in reporting. Jennings would later find himself on the receiving end of criticism for not referring to Black September as terrorists. There are also other questions at hand. How do you report news when there is not a confirmation? News was happening so fast. They were basically making up the rules on the go, with limited technology on hand. The police try to take them off the air at point. How would they feel if their reporting led to Israelis being killed? It’s a good question and something they discuss in the control room. At one point, reports suggest that the Israeli hostages survived the airport gunfight. Moments later, we all know this would not be the case. A German police officer also died at the airport during the gunfight.

The handheld cinematography allows September 5 to have something of a documentary-esque approach. It’s what truly allows audiences to feel the stress in the room as Mason and company are making decisions in the control room. Some of the decisions are harder than others. ABC wasn’t just one of the few networks on the air–they were one of the few with a direct view of the apartments where the Israeli delegation was staying. The decisions that they make would prove to be historic decisions because nobody had to cover a terrorist attack during a sporting event. It’s because of this that there really was no time to be making any moral decisions–the clock was ticking.

Lorenz Dangel’s score enables audiences to feel the tension in the briskly-paced thriller. There are moments where audiences won’t tell the difference between the score or sound design–this speaks to the subtleness of Dangel’s work. Even when you know what happens–ultimately, a tragedy–the film is about to keep one on the edge of the seat. Fehlbaum kept the camera rolling for long takes so the tension is also a credit to editor Hansjörg Weißbrich in helping shape the edit. In front of the camera, I think it’s fair to say that there are so many standout performances. It’s hard to single out just one of them because September 5 is a true ensemble picture. John Magaro should be considered a lead actor but Paramount submitted him for supporting actor. He’s also appearing on all of my nomination ballots, too.

ABC would be providing live coverage on the air for 22 hours. Arledge also had to call in favors with CBS and NBC to make sure they could use the satellite to broadcast back to America. TV in the 1970s was very different than just two decades earlier in the 1970s. Americans experienced World War II through newsreel footage. It certainly is not lost on me that this act of terrorism took place at a time when Germany was showing the world it that it is different.

The film wisely uses the actual footage of Jim McKay. There is probably no way that you could make this film with an actor playing McKay. I do not think it is an understatement to say just how important the archival footage is to the film.  They do use a stand-in but only show him from the back. The thing that I admire the most about the film is how they seamlessly transition between the recreations and the archival footage. You cannot even tell the difference!

By portraying the 1972 Munich Massacre through the lens of the ABC Sports team, September 5 earns its place among the great newsroom thrillers and as one of the best pictures of the year. I highly recommend watching One Day in September as a companion to this film as it adds more history and context behind the massacre.

May the memories of Andre Spitzer, Yosef Romano, Moshe Weinberg, Ze’ev Friedman, David Berger, Yakov Springer, Eliezer Halfin, Yossef Gutfreund, Kehat Shorr, Mark Slavin and Amitzur Shapira be for a blessing.

DIRECTOR: Tim Fehlbaum
SCREENWRITERS: Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum
CO-WRITER: Alex David
CAST: Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, Leonie Benesch, Zinedine Soualem, Georgina Rich, Corey Johnson, Marcus Rutherford, Daniel Adeosun, Benjamin Walker, Ferdinand Dörfler

Paramount Pictures releases September 5 in limited theaters on December 13, 2024. A wide release will follow on January 17, 2025. Grade: 5/5

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