39/49
I had the privilege of seeing this excellent film at the AFI Film Festival
Synopsis
During the 1972 Munich Olympics, an American television crew was faced with a hostage situation involving Israeli athletes.
Set in the ABC control room in Munich during the 1972 Olympics, the film realistically depicts both the routine aspects of running the control room during the games and, of course, the tragic attacks by Black September on the Israeli athletes
In the control room are ABC Sports President Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), fledgling producer Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro), Vice President of Olympic Coverage Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin) and German translator Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch), all of whom are excellent in their roles.
giant VTR machines, competition for satellite space, manual insertion of graphics, etc)
The film also aptly illustrates how technology that was considered cutting edge at the time now seems ridiculous and primitive (e.g.
The realism is enhanced by the use of archive footage of Jim McKay reporting on the tragedy
However, the key aspect of any thriller is the screenplay and direction by Tim Fehlbaum, who keeps the viewer on the edge of his seat throughout the film.
But these criticisms certainly don’t prevent me from highly recommending this excellent film – you have to see it!
My only minor quibble is with the choice of Benjamin Walker as Peter Jennings – he doesn’t quite seem like the handsome, elegant presenter I remember (I would probably cut his character and just rely on Jennings’ speech from the tape from the Olympic Village).