The film is a retelling of the true story of the September 5 1972 terrorist attack where Palestinian group ‘Black September’ held eleven Israeli athletes and coaches hostage at the Munich Olympic Games, demanding the release of prisoners in Israel. However it chooses to focus its plot around ABC’s coverage of the event.
The decision to explore the broadcast side of the infamous event allows the film to create tension and anxiety as we watch the journalists go to lengths to be the first channel to break each new update, having a crew member pretend to be an athlete and wheeling studio cameras outside. This lens of focus Fehlbaum has chosen to follow examines the constant question of what is a journalist’s responsibility when reporting, and who do they owe this responsibility to. Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) and Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin) disagree over what is acceptable to broadcast live with Arledge arguing that they have a responsibility to the world to show what’s happening and Bader arguing that they have a responsibility to the hostages’ families.
the film succeeds as a fictionalised newsroom drama, but its desire to remain apolitical means that the plot feels slightly unfinished
The film excels at depicting the highs and lows of a newsroom when covering an intense, potentially world-changing story, drawing the viewer into the split second decisions news channels make when reporting the unexpected. However the aim at remaining an apolitical film means the plot falters slightly. Whilst the film acknowledges the larger Israel-Palestine conflict and features both Jewish and Arabic characters as ABC crew members, it does not delve much into the background of the conflict or the negotiations surrounding the terrorist attack.
Given the context in which this film was released, it feels slightly lacking that a film asking what story should be told and how, largely avoids the context in which the attack occurred. Viewers who watch the film without much previous historical understanding of the Munich attack may question why this attack is being broadcast in certain ways - for example when ABC’s Middle Eastern correspondent initially refuses to use the word ‘terrorism’. The film’s refusal to engage with the context means we do not hear much about the hostage’s plight and the wider effects of the attack, instead being focused on the American journalists.
Ultimately the film succeeds as a fictionalised newsroom drama, but its desire to remain apolitical means that the plot feels slightly unfinished, although its screenplay and direction is excellent.