Product: One Day in September [VHS] (2006)
Rating: 3.0
An overstylized treatment of a riveting subject
Watching this documentary, it is tempting to forgive its shortcomings simply because the subject matter is so compelling. Making a film about an event like the Munich Massacre is the directorial equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel. Just tell the story and your audience will be riveted.Sadly, after watching this film you cannot help but feel that it could � no, it should � have been much better. A pulse-less narration by Michael Douglas punctuates otherwise fascinating interviews with the parties involved. Seemingly endless montages of Olympians competing to the discordant strains of Led Zeppelin smack of filler. Worst of all, at the moment when the final tragedy of Munich is revealed in all its carnage, the viewer is subjected to what amounts to a music video of death. To be fair, there is little that a narrator could add to the grisly scenes at the airport - but an opportunity existed to provide additional information to the viewer, and instead the director has chosen to drive home the horror with a pile driver.The strengths of this movie are numerous: the interviews and archival footage are first rate. We see the German police disguised as athletes; we are shown wordless commentary on the media's response to a crisis, as well as the unfeeling actions of the International Olympic Committee. Perhaps the greatest strength of this film is its structure. The viewer is taken through a gradual progression of events, sharing in the uncertainty of the authorities and the shock of the world. We experience the news footage in sequence, culminating with Jim McKay's chilling announcement "Our worst fears have been realized tonight."What I find most striking about this film's portrayal of Munich is the way they make the events build on each other until they almost overwhelm you. Just when your jaw drops open from what you've seen - they show you something or tell you something that makes it that much worse. You will find yourself saying, "That simply cannot be." The idea that something could go that wrong is almost impossible to believe, and you can only share in the incredulity and outrage of the Israeli representatives as they denounce the German police operation.I certainly recommend viewing this film, it is both a moving and informative account of these terrible events - but I cannot help but wish that a subject as weighty as this were given the respect it deserves. The facts of what happened on September 5-6, 1972 would make any telling of them memorable, it is just a pity that this documentary gives them such short shrift.