On September 5, 1972, Palestinian terrorists, part of a group known as Black September, infiltrated the Olympic Village in Munich, killing two Israeli athletes and taking nine others hostage.
Writer/director Tim Fehlbaum’s “September 5” is a tense journalism thriller, chronicling how news of that atrocity reached the rest of the world.
Since ABC Sports was broadcasting the Games, utilizing their link to the newly launched space satellite, its bleary-eyed crew were on-site and among the first to hear gunfire. As they scrambled to get into position to ‘cover’ this major story, logistics became their primary concern.
Alerted by ambitious young producer Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro) and network executive Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), “Wide World of Sports” anchorman Jim McKay, who was scheduled to take that day off, immediately started to deliver on-camera updates, augmented by off-camera observations by Middle East expert, then 34-year-old Peter Jennings (Benjamin Walker).
Maneuvering inside the newsroom during the 17-hour ordeal are operations manager Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), an anguished Jewish New Yorker whose family was devastated by the Holocaust; Jacques Lesgards, a French Algerian Arab; and local ‘hire’ Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch), their only German translator.
Gebhardt was keenly aware of the significance of Germany’s hosting the Olympics. Germany’s previous Olympics host–Berlin, 1936–was Adolf Hitler.
Co-scripting with Moritz Binder, Swiss director Tim Fehlbaum takes a deep dive into the dynamics of media ethics. ABC’s live television coverage was informing both the terrorists and the hostages’ families what West German authorities were doing/not doing to alleviate the situation.
Credit cinematographer Markus Forderer and editor Hansjorg Weissbrich for achieving astonishing authenticity by interweaving archival news footage. Their reportage of the Munich crisis won ABC Sports 29 Emmys and propelled Arledge’s career. He eventually became President of ABC News.
In the wake of the brutal October 7th 2023 massacre of civilians at an Israeli music festival by Hamas terrorists, this riveting picture resonates with relevance.
FYI: Steven Spielberg’s “Munich” (2005) focused on Israel’s subsequent mission to wreak revenge on those responsible for the Olympic carnage.
In German and English, on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “September 5” is an enthralling 8, playing in theaters.
After years of being dismissed as just a bodacious “Baywatch” babe, Pamela Anderson proves she’s a sensitive, discerning actress in Gia Coppola’s “The Last Showgirl,” with perceptive Jamie Lee Curtis as her best friend.
This poignant character study revolves around 57-year-old Shelly (Anderson), who has spent more than 30 years as a feather-fanned, rhinestone-studded dancer in a gaudy Las Vegas “tits and feathers” extravaganza called “Le Razzle Dazzle.”
Shelly views herself as an artist and is inordinately proud of this tacky nudie venue, comparing it to the renowned Lido in Paris. But her world goes into a tailspin when the stage manager Eddie (Dave Bautista) tells her that they’re closing in two weeks – to be replaced by a youth-oriented, erotic circus.
When her younger cohorts – Jodie (Kieran Shipka) and Marianne (Brenda Song) – start auditioning for work elsewhere, Shelly discovers to her dismay that her days in the chorus line are over. She has no idea what to do next and begins to wonder if her ‘career’ was worth the sacrifices she made – like neglecting her now-grown, estranged daughter Hannah (Billie Lourd), who aspires to be a photographer.
At Shelly’s side is her brassy best-friend, spray-tanned former showgirl Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis), who now works as a casino cocktail waitress, often losing ‘shifts’ to fresher faces.
With her breathy, vulnerable Marilyn Monroe-like voice, Pamela Anderson seems to relish removing her makeup and courageously showing her age, while Jamie Lee Curtis’ instinctive grasp of her character is simply sensational.
When director Gia Coppola (“Palo Alto,” “Mainstream”), whose grandfather is Francis Ford Coppola, makes a movie, it’s a family venture. Kate Gersten adapted her stage play into this film script; she’s married to producer Matthew Shire, half-brother to Gia’s cousin Jason Schwartzman, who plays a showgirl casting director. And Gia’s mother, Jacqueline Getty, designed the costumes with Rainy Jacobs.
On the Granger Gauge, “The Last Showgirl” is a melancholy, sympathetic 7, playing in theaters.
