Product: One Day in September [VHS] (2006)
Rating: 5.0
Terror of an Olympic Proportion
I was in college from 1970-74 and I missed out on a lot of news during those years primarily because I rarely ever watched TV then. (There were far too many other things to do). I saw "Apollo 13" and wondered, Wow! When did that happen? Of course, when I realized it was during that time frame, I understood just how cut off I was. The Munich Olympics did not entirely escape my attention but I wasn't exactly an expert on the subject either. That is why I enjoyed the documentary "One Day in September" recently. I knew the basics but I hadn't realized that the whole story had so much more to it.In "One Day in September", we are giving a step by step account of exactly what DID happen in Munich. In fact, after a good background intro, the film shows us the exact time of each incident or event as they ocurred. Much of the action (and inaction) is documented with newsreel footage of the times. There are a number of eyewitness interviews many of which appeared to have been conducted later for this film. The narration is limited and seems to have been used only to bridge sequences and/or inform us of background activities not otherwise documented by film or interview. Most of the information I saw I either never knew or had long forgotten. I am glad that I saw this film because I won't forget this again.The film, I believe, actually opens with an on-camera interview with one of the perpetrators which had the eerie effect of letting us know that there was some element of "success" for the terrorists. The interview with this individual is interspliced throughout the movie and is quite helpful (although it may be bothersome to some that he survived the terrorist action). There are a number of interviews with German officials who seemed to have a knack for phrasing things in just the wrong way. Indeed, I recalled that the German government came off looking bad but I'd forgotten or didn't know just how bad. Things just seemed to get worse and worse largely due to the ineptitude of the German authorities.Documentaries are often seen and then forgotten. Maybe there's a documentary channel somewhere I haven't heard about but I don't think so. "One Day in September" has reappeared recently on TV recently and I'm glad it has.