A story that doesn’t seem fresh on paper — and one previously explored in Steven Spielberg’s “Munich ” — may be a barrier to entry for some audiences. But Swiss director Tim Fehlbaum’s “ September 5 ,” which takes audiences inside the airtight, under-air-conditioned ABC News control room as terrorists commandeered the 1972 Summer Olympics mere yards away, is a gripping, singular depiction that stands on its own merits. In a tight 94 minutes, Fehlbaum pivots from the mayhem outside and solely toward the handful of sports broadcasters forced to improvise as eight Palestinian militants, known as Black September, took the Israeli Olympic team hostage.
All 11 hostages were killed. Though going into this movie with that historical perspective doesn’t impede the tension onscreen — even if “September 5’s” psychological inquiry into the crisis and how it reshaped TV news, and how that very broadcast coverage may have spurred a nightmare to its worst possible horizon, is occasionally pat and less penetrating. It’s anchored by a compelling and on-point-period performance by indie stalwart John Magaro as Geoff Mason, an upstart producer who suddenly finds himself driving a network’s entire coverage, and way beyond his paygrade.
Elsewhere on the scrappy American news team is Peter Sarsgaard as Roone Arledge, who mobilizes his staff once shots are heard as the Munich Olympics kick into their second week. The hostage-taking occurred September 5 and 6, with th.