A great film to converse about

Rating: 8/10 (28 April 2006)

I was skeptical about seeing this film. I was afraid that it would be overly politicized, and give one side of the political spectrum lots of ammo to run their mouths off with for the next few months. I was also afraid that it would be a pity party for the victims of 9/11, and while they deserve our regards and sympathy, it would not have been appropriate to do this with a overly emotional tear jerker. I was afraid that it would be an outrageous pro-American pride film, and while I have great pride in my country, for all its strengths and weaknesses, again, it would have been inappropriate to make a film like this.
I was very pleased to have watched a film that was none of these things. It is clear that the filmmakers took great care to make this film serious and respectful. Not only respectful to the victims of 9/11, but respectful to the perpetrators, in the sense that they were not caricatured, not over-villainous, and not under-villainous. The terrorists were portrayed as terrorists. They were not monsters, they were not 'normal people caught up with the wrong crowd'. I cannot express how amazing it was to really see a film by someone who wanted to make a film for the sake of reflection and respect, not to please someones agenda.
This film did not cater towards any political agenda either. Some of my friends I was with commented that is seemed to lean to the left a bit, however upon asking them more questions, this interpretation was a compilation of their past memories and opinions. The film does portray certain things that were done wrong by certain authorities, yes, including the president. Again, however, the filmmakers do not make this film about those mistakes, nor does it place blame. In the film the president is simply "out of contact". Rather than using this information to put a black mark on the president, it shows how this situation did not help solve the problems that were at hand at the time. I have to say that for a very delicate subject, this film walks the line of objectivity as perfectly as could possibly be done, seeking to show the viewers how to learn from this incident, rather than point fingers.
Now, as a Film Studies major, I have some things to say about this film, regardless of its contextual content.
The editing is excellent. In the opening scene the cuts happen exactly when they should, the rhythm is right on the money. I could literally count beats in my head and feel every cut motivating me to watch the film. Throughout the film, editing is done with precision to build suspense, and I could tell that the editor was in complete control of how quickly and how intensely the action was built up.
The cinematography was good. There were moments where I thought that the shaky, close in, focus shifting, grainy style was a little bit overdone. This style certainly is consistent with themes of the film, and shows an excellent grasp of how to handle this type of film on the part of the DP, but, as I said, I would have taken only a very small portion, less than 5%, of the 'action' shots and replaced them with somewhat clearer shots, just at a few moments were I though that I would benefit more from a calm, clean shot than a kinetic shot. Other than that I though the aesthetic style of the film was excellent.
The Actors and Actresses were all rather unknown to me, I recognized a couple faces but couldn't put any names. I am curious as to whether none of the big names wanted to attach themselves to a potentially controversial film, or if it was the decision of the filmmakers to avoid having the audience attribute personalities to the characters from past films. I loved the acting. Only for a few brief shots were there signs of overacting, and then only the slightest. I appreciated the way that the costuming and mannerisms of the actors were well matched to the roles they played and the kind of characters they were.
The soundtrack was mostly absent. In fact, I am going to venture out and say there was no non-diagetic music until the very end, despite the fact that I know I could have very well missed it. Either way I though it was a wise choice. Music adds external emotional context to the film and by not having any music it allowed for maximum objectivity, which promoted the intellectual approach that was taken to the subject matter, which as I have said is the best thing about this film. The hectic audio mix of the control rooms and plane all aided the cinematic style, creating a unified and consistent feel for the film.
All said, I gave this film a 8/10, because in the end it is simply a good film, that works hard to give an intelligent and objective (as possible) view of some events that are very meaningful to most anyone who would go see it. It demonstrates a technical proficiency on the part of the filmmakers, and shows a genuine desire to make a positive, respectful, and reflective film. I don't rate it higher only because it does not display real excellence in terms of cinematic ingenuity or execution, or explore ideologies using filmic techniques, in the sense that the bona fide film masterpieces do, but its a damn good movie.