Truly disturbing

Rating: 10/10 (3 May 2006)

It took me a while to gather the strength to see this film. I live in New York, I am, many of us are, a part of this story. I went to see it several hours ago, right after the life sentencing of Zacarias Moussaoui - I wasn't going to see it, but somehow this sentencing provoked me to buy a ticket, sit in the dark with fifteen or so total strangers, and completely immerse myself in this. In effect, I just re-lived with shocking and visceral realism, the events of September 11, 2001. I lost it. I cried throughout the whole film, starting with one moment towards the beginning when one of the hijackers, Ziad Jarrah, calls his fiancée from the airport terminal and tells her he loves her. The only reason I know his name is because I have read up on the history of each of the perpetrators - this film does not name names, there is no 'central character', though there are recognizable ones (Todd Beamer comes to mind), and aboard flight 93 Jarrah was the only hijacker with any semblance of a normal life outside of his fundamentalist lifestyle, he did not break off relations with his family, friends, or his fiancée, whom he reportedly called minutes before boarding the aircraft. There was something about this moment that gave me a terrible sinking feeling in the bottom of my stomach, a feeling that can best be described as the horrible inevitability of everything. The feeling remained, and it is still in me as I am writing this. I was amazed, first off, at the skill of this film. It is an incredibly tight and realistic piece of film-making and quite unlike anything I have ever seen. I thought, though very difficult to watch in areas, it was tasteful, and did not stoop to gratuitous violence, and in the few areas music was used, it did not impede on the narrative, and didn't try to falsely elevate the drama in any scene - something I am so thankful for because I would not only have been truly disappointed had this film resorted to any cliché, but probably also angry. The story was told with respect, and with honor, and avoided cliché's as a rule. The hand-held photography really does lend to the story, I'm not usually a fan of this technique, however it worked because over the course of the film the camera-work became more unstable and shakier, until the final moments which were confused blur. This film, more than any I have ever seen has the ability to do two things, and this depends on the state of the viewer. It seems like it could either pacify or radicalize people in their opinions on what America's role is in the world and in this 'war on terror'. In the back of the theatre (Village East, New York City) a woman began to laugh hysterically during the final moments of this film. I could feel the animosity of the crowd, and there were loud 'Shhhh's. But this demonstrated to me the complete absurdity of life on this planet.