United 93

Rating: 8/10 (21 June 2006)

OK, so I saw United 93 today. I had high hopes for this one, due to a great director at the helm, 5 stars in empire and a really good trailer. Of course the fact that the subject matter is one of the most fascinating issues of the past century also boosted it.
This film was awesome. Its one of those films that hits high on almost every cinematic level, but, and heres the thing, its probably the least cinematic film you'll see at the cinema. The entire piece is shot documentary style, with shaky hand held cameras and understated realistic performances. Its so effective that many times you do think your watching a documentary, especially near the beginning when everything appears fine and you just watch the things that everyone does when they're at an airport/ plane (i.e not much).
The sound design also adds a great deal to this. Particularly the scenes in the control tower, when it seems all the more hectic due to the phones ringing, peoples conversations overlapping etc.
This style of film-making being used was quite surprising, but makes sense when you look at the components of production: Working title pictures (British), StudioCanal (European), and of course it is written and directed by British director Paul Greengrass. Though this is a film about a very American issue, it needed the touch of someone who understands the need for naturalistic film-making. The majority of American filmmakers would probably have the terrorists demonised, and one big American star being the main hero. In United 93 however this is fortunately not an issue. The film shows the terrorists angle for much of the film and I found myself feeling sorry for one of the hijackers on more than one occasion. The passengers are shown as mortal human beings who only risk their lives when they have no other choice. No one character really stands out as 'The Star' (helped by a completely unknown cast), but they all deliver really great performances. A special note should be made of the air traffic controllers and military personnel who appear in the film. Over half of them by my count, were untrained actors playing themselves. This obviously adds to the realism. They were saying what they actually said on that day, not some screenwriters interpretation. Despite the lack of acting experience, they don't stand out as bad at all. I only realised they weren't actors when the end credits rolled and there was so many 'As Himself' credits.
The only problem with this film-and it is a minor one- is the pacing. At times I found myself waiting around for something to happen, but to be fair that is almost certainly how it felt for the characters on that day.
Also I do wonder if the film would be anywhere near as effective if the subject matter wasn't so close to home. If it was a fictional account of a plane being hijacked, it probably wouldn't pack the same punch, which emotionally does give Greengrass an advantage. However he doesn't exploit this half as much as he could, and for that, I commend him. There is one rather poignant, irony heavy moment but I think its easily forgiven when you look at the picture as a whole.
This film could have been terrible. But it wasn't. It was really well made, and handles the subject matter sensitively. I am hoping 'World Trade Centre', will be as good but I suspect it will be more of a 'Nic Cage film'.
Anyway thats the end of my rant. I highly recommend you see United 93, its well worth it.