Poignant, Realistic Mise en Scène

Rating: Null/10 (19 September 2006)

"United 93" is British director Paul Greengrass' real time account of the tragic events of United Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked on 9/11 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, when some passengers tried to foil the terrorist plot. With unknown but competent actors and an honest sense of telling history (not a story), Greengrass ("Bloody Sunday", "The Bourne Supremacy") conducted this horrific account with his peculiar, dry style of film-making and made a poignant film. "United 93" is superior and quite different from Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center", which focused on another side of the tragedy (the fight of the firemen to save lives), but turned out to be somewhat lame and melodramatic. "United 93" reminds me of Gus Van Sant's "Elephant" (about the Columbine massacre): it doesn't take sides, yet it doesn't mean Greengrass was afraid to go beyond. It means there's still a lot to be known about the ones who caused this sad tragedy and everybody was harmed in a way. Perhaps the American president could've done more. The only heroes were the innocent passengers who tried but sadly couldn't save their lives. This film is both a tribute to them and a historic account that shouldn't be ignored. 9 out of 10.