A Tough Watch, But Tremendously Well Done

Rating: 9/10 (15 December 2006)

In "United 93," the fictionalized account of what may have taken place on board the sole hijacked commercial airliner that did not reach its target on September 11, 2001, director Paul Greengrass has given us a clenched muscle of a movie. The film runs on pure adrenaline; it's terse, lean and frank. It also happens to be extremely difficult to watch.
Filmed in a bare-bones style, with few recognizable actors and very little significant dialogue, the movie offers an account first of what takes place in several air traffic control centers in different locations as the realization that planes are being flown into buildings around the country settles in, and then it confines itself exclusively to the cabin of the doomed flight itself, after the passengers have learned that they're being used for a suicide mission and fight back against the hijackers. Greengrass resists the urge to sentimentalize the events or make heroes of anyone; the resistance of the passengers is not filmed in dramatic slow motion set to a booming soundtrack. Instead, it looks confused, messy and panicked, the desperate acts of people not suited for their roles. Likewise, the scenes that take place in the air traffic control centers have the atmosphere of authentic immediacy. I was at work the morning of 9/11, and the way I learned about what was going on matched very closely the way the people in this movie learn about the events -- through snippets of overheard conversations, images on the news, and random rumours.
Many people have decried this movie as being unnecessary at best and downright dishonest at worst. Some have called it a blatant piece of American propaganda. I don't get that. I admit that while I was watching it, I did wonder if I could justify a film about such a sensitive subject that doesn't really have a point of view and can't even claim to be an accurate recreation of events. But then I watched one of the special features on the DVD, a short film about the relatives of those who died on this flight. Many of the actors met with the families shortly after filming, and Greengrass held a special private screening for the relatives before the studio released the film to the general public. All of the family members felt nothing but solace and a sense of peace after watching the movie. Almost all of them expressed their gratitude to the filmmakers for making the film and telling their loved ones' stories. They seemed unable to understand why others wouldn't want a film like this to be made. One of the rationales used against this movie is that it came out too soon after the date of the tragic events depicted in it. In response to this criticism, one of the family members replies, "It's not soon enough." So if the families who are most closely affected by the event don't feel the need to justify the movie's existence, why should anyone else?
And as for those who claim that the film is a piece of manufactured propaganda, the Internet culture now allows every Tom, Dick and Harry to publish his or her opinions in cyberspace (my own included) as uncontested fact, but how do any of these bloggers know what took place on that day? They don't. Perhaps no one but the people on board ever will. Greengrass never claimed that his film was a factual recreation, but rather that it's a suggestion of what might have happened based on available evidence. It's easy to sit at a laptop in a coffee shop and claim that the movie is crap based on a bunch of conspiracy theories floating around in the ether, but until anyone has anything better to offer, I'll stick with Greengrass's version of events
Only a mere five years after 9/11, it's hard to believe that there was ever a time when Americans were so dismissive of terrorism. As this film shows, 9/11 worked because Americans really had no context for believing something of this magnitude could ever happen. Surprise was the terrorists' greatest ally. So no, I don't think it's too soon to show movies about that terrible day, or to keep thoughts of it constantly with us. The more we're prepared, the less likely it is that something this horrible will happen again.
I can't say I was entertained exactly by this movie, though I was never less than completely engrossed in it. But I can certainly say that it is easily one of the best movies I've seen this year.
Grade: A