It is always interesting to watch professionals doing their best, and “September 5” is one of such prime examples. Here are a bunch of professionals simply trying to do their job well under one extraordinary circumstance which drew the attention of the whole global world during that time, and the movie is often riveting while also indirectly provoking some thoughts and reflection from us.

 At the beginning, we see how things were quite exciting in Munich, West Germany during the first week of September 1972. The 1972 Summer Olympics was being held, and the West German government was eager to promote the new era of the country after World War II. The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) was in the middle of its first live coverage of the Summer Olympics, and the opening part of the film shows how the ABC sports crew are going through another busy day in Munich.

However, a shocking incident happened in the middle of the early morning of the next day. A bunch of Palestinian terrorists broke into one of the buildings for the Olympic athletes where the Israeli athletes and coaches were staying at that time, and then these terrorists held 11 hostages as demanding the release of 200 Palestinian political prisoners held by the Israeli government. While the Israeli government did not bend to this demand at all, the West Germany government tried to resolve the situation as soon as possible, but, as many of you know, that eventually led to a disastrous outcome.

The movie closely follows how the ABC sports crew instantly embarked on reporting this horrible incident. Once they get confirmed on what is really going on, they all busily prepare for the live TV coverage of that incident, and the movie ably immerses us into the increasingly tense atmosphere surrounding them. While they surely have considerable advantages as the only American broadcasting company which can broadcast the hostage situation on live TV, they can still be beaten at any point by many other competitors out there who are also quite determined to be the first in line, and the movie shows a bit of humor from how they try to get closer to the ongoing hostage situation by any means necessary. At one point, one of them disguises himself as an American athlete for freely going back and forth between the crew and a certain famous TV reporter without any interference from the local police, and that leads to a brief but hilarious moment later in the story.       

Under the permission from Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), who is the President of ABC Sports, Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), who is the head of operation at ABC Sports, allows Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro) to handle their ongoing live TV coverage, and Mason is certainly ready to prove his worth to others around him. With some invaluable help from a female German employee who often serves as a translator, Mason and his crew members keep catching on the latest development of the hostage situation and then reporting it on live TV, and it seems that this will be the finest moment of their career.   

However, as the situation becomes more and more serious, the ABC sports crew members become more aware of the ethical aspects of their live TV coverage. They are certainly concerned about how things can get quite worse at any minute, and they are also quite worried about whether they can actually show that on live TV. Furthermore, they belatedly come to realize that those terrorists are also probably watching their live TV coverage, and that makes Mason very conflicted about whether their live TV coverage actually jeopardizes the whole circumstance.

Firmly maintaining its dryly objective viewpoint, the screenplay by director Tim Fehlbaum and his co-writers Moritz Binder and Alex David, which was incidentally Oscar-nominated a few weeks ago, keeps rolling the story and characters with considerable efficiency. While simply observing how they work together, the movie lets us get to know its main characters bit by bit, and it also steadily accumulates its narrative momentum thanks to the taut and efficient editing by Markus Förderer. As a result, we never feel lost amid many different characters working inside the limited background, and you will also be marveled to see how the movie did a seamless job of incorporating archival footage clips into the story. 

The main cast members of the film are all convincing in their respective parts. Peter Sarsgaard and Ben Chaplin are dependable as usual, John Magaro, who has become one of the most reliable performers working in Hollywood during last several years, fills the center with another fine performance, and he is also supported well by a bunch of other good performers including Zinedine Soualem, Benjamin Walker, and Leonie Benesch, who was memorable in Oscar-nominated German film “The Teachers’ Lounge” (2023) and holds her own place well as the sole substantial female character in the story.

Overall, “September 5” is an engaging historical drama to be admired for its focused handling of its main subject, and I was often entertained by its authentic period mood and details while appreciating its thoughtful sides. Although it does not spell out any particular message on the surface, the movie makes us muse more on some ethical issues of journalism observed from the story, and it goes without saying that these issues are still relevant even at this point. Yes, you may think it could show and tell more about its main subject, but it did its job fairly well within its rather short running time (95 minutes), so I will not complain for now.