Taut drama that's as brilliant as it is disturbing

Rating: 10/10 (5 July 2006)

There could hardly be a film more distressing to watch than Paul Greengrass' "United 93," the writer-director's cinematic cogitation on the grim events that unfolded in perhaps the bleakest day in America's history. It certainly isn't an easy subject for Greengrass to tackle, or for any filmmaker for that matter, especially considering the post-9/11 sensibilities of the audience. But the director of such films as "Bloody Sunday" and "The Bourne Supremacy" delivers the story of that day in a no-nonsense manner giving the film its brilliance, yet ironically also making it hard to bear.
On September 11, 2001, four American commercial planes were hijacked as part of a coordinated terrorist attacks upon the United States. Two hit the World Trade Center in New York, and one hit the Pentagon. The fourth one, the United 93, crashed in southwest Pennsylvania, over a hundred miles off the target - Washington, D.C. - as passengers and members of the flight crew tried to fight the hijackers and regain control of the plane. Of course, in the end no one survived and it's what makes the film all the more harrowing.
Greengrass' direction is virtually flawless. He paces the film in a way where amidst the constancy and familiarity prior to the events is a building of trepidation when the horrific events start to progress as soon as the cards are laid and all bets are off. It's heartbreaking as it develops, yet still holds our attention even if we already know the tragic fate that awaits. The director's trademark hand-held camera-work underlines the confusion and chaos that reverberates throughout the film, which is shot in a pseudo-documentary style. As he stages each act, he not only lets us see what happens; he brings us there and then. The scant use of music and the fluidity in presenting scenes from FAA headquarters, air traffic control in various cities, and from United 93 itself, contribute to the atmosphere enveloped in paranoia.
The script has also taken the right approach in presenting its characters, for in matters such as this, ambiguity is more effective than providing absolutism. Greengrass generates sympathy for the doomed airplane passengers without a mawkishly sentimental effect. We know just enough of these people for them to remain ordinary in spite of the circumstance. Of course the decision to cast mostly unknown actors help in creating the tension. The cast members' subtle performance are genuinely gripping and as we delve into their characters' despondency, we sympathize with them. We feel their fears. By the time the end abruptly comes, so do we realize how fleeting life was for these people.
"United 93" is an excellent film. It is more of the director's somber rumination of the events rather than a solid popcorn entertainment because this is definitely not an escapist fare. Neither will it be easy for a lot of viewers to warm up to the movie. It presents brutal facts only a willing mind can take but ultimately rewards those who see it with a provocative and rewarding experience.