By Rebecca Kalmar, Social Media Manager and Staff Writer
Editor’s Note: This article is dedicated l’ilui nishmat (in memory of) Amitzur Shapira, Andre Spitzer, David Berger, Eliezer Halfin, Kehat Shorr, Mark Slavin, Moshe Weinberg, Yakov Springer, Yossef Gutfreund, Yossef Romano, and Ze’ev Friedman, Hashem Yikom Damam.
In 1972, the Summer Olympics were held in Munich, Germany. In the second week, eight Palestinian terrorists from the militant group Black September murdered Israeli wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg and weightlifter Yossef Romano, and held nine other athletes and coaches hostage. Then, during a failed rescue attempt by West German police, the terrorists murdered all of the hostages. The new Tim Fehlbaum film, September 5, focuses on the ABC Sports broadcast crew present at the Olympics, and their efforts to cover the story on live television.
The film itself was excellent. The shots in September 5 are pieced together so smoothly that the viewer gives no thought to their place in the movie and is simply immersed in the scene. In select moments, the camera work is so deliberate the audience can’t help but notice it, with close ups and unique angles cluing viewers into the emotional severity of a scene. The incredible acting and filming allowed the audience to feel that they were experiencing the moments right alongside the characters on the screen. The authenticity of the movie was bolstered by real astonishing and harrowing footage from the events surrounding the Munich massacre.
The obvious ties between the Munich massacre and the current Israeli hostage situation since October 7 echoed throughout September 5. This is particularly notable given that filming was finished and the movie was already in post production when the war broke out. In a particularly poignant moment, one character stared hauntedly at the walls of the broadcast room, where pictures of murdered hostages had been displayed. I was instantly reminded of the current red and white hostage posters gracing storefronts, airports and street lights across the world. It is sobering to know that the photographs of these two groups of hostages tell essentially the same story, of human beings targeted simply because they belonged to the Jewish state.
A scene with a debate about using the word “terrorist” on television felt eerily familiar, as today’s media outlets frequently fail the Israeli and Jewish community with their inability to accurately represent the atrocities of October 7 and their aftermath. An argument about how live television would impact terrorists and the families of hostages was reminiscent of the videos taken of returned hostages seeking privacy, and Hamas’s use of propaganda. Through emotionally evocative and familiar scenes, September 5 did justice to both the story of the Munich massacre, and the current turmoil in Israel.
The showing of September 5 is followed by a pre-recorded Q&A with various people from the movie’s creative team. Compared to the film itself, which was thoughtful in its treatment of history, the Q&A was shockingly disappointing. Despite the literal subject matter of the film being Israeli hostages, everyone on the panel managed to avoid any mention of the current hostage situation in Israel.
One actor referenced a moment in the film where a group of people in the studio had to be chastised for watching the Olympic boxing match while the hostage situation was still developing. The panelist talked at length about how amazing it is that humans are able to move forward from tragedy, and only acknowledged at the very end how that can also be negative. While there is the potential that the Q & A itself was recorded before October 7, the choice to show the panel as is in theaters without any added mention of the hostages speaks volumes.
Panelists only viewed the movie through the prism of the process of broadcast television, completely ignoring the plight of the hostages and the personal aspects of the tragedy. While this is the central theme of the film, choosing to hide behind discussions of media and broadcasting and neglecting to address the current and historical reality is a disgrace to the memory of the Israeli athletes and coaches murdered in cold blood.
After the film, I stayed in the theater, discussing the movie and the current hostage deal with my friends. As we talked, I heard others talking about the film behind me. However, rather than discussing the serious nature of September 5, they were laughing as they recalled a particular comedic moment where a member of ABC staff dressed up as an athlete to sneak into the Olympic Village, which was being evacuated by police. I was incredibly dismayed. Out of the entire movie, that was the moment that stood out the most to the audience? One humorous scene amongst a backdrop of horrors? Had they not learned anything from what they had just witnessed?
Like those watching the boxing match in the movie, and the Q&A participants, it seemed that audience members preferred to focus on the idea of entertainment rather than to confront their feelings about the evils perpetrated during the 1972 Olympics. While September 5 was an original and nuanced depiction of the Munich massacre, it seems that some of its most crucial moral lessons were lost on both moviegoers and its creators.
Photo Caption: A memorial dedicated to the victims of the Munich massacre
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons