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United 93 May 7, 2006 |
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One of the scariest things about terrorism, perhaps the scariest, is that you never know when something horrific is going to happen. Nobody knew a thing the day some masked men stormed a dormitory during the Olympics in ’72 in Munich, killing a slew of Israeli athletes and leading to an airport bloodbath and the dawn of televised terror. Nobody could have possibly known that one day the seemingly quiet Timothy McVeigh would load a van full of home made explosives, park it outside of a government building in Oklahoma City, and murder 150 plus civilians minding their own business on a clear spring morning. And certainly, who in their right mind would have ever predicted that one morning in mid September in 2001, a well organized plot to destroy the very fabric of American culture and financial stability would so flawlessly be executed by a handful of religious zealots who, in turn for sacrificing their bodies, and the innocent lives of over 3,000 unsuspecting souls, fancied themselves “martyrs” for some insane cause that preaches to a higher power of fanaticism and pure ignorant hatred. Nobody could have predicted September 11th, and surely nobody could ever forget where they were when the news first hit, whether you were watching the whole disaster live on morning TV, or heard it through a rapidly frantic grapevine away from any television set, and the most frightening aspect about those events that changed American history, is that they came out of nowhere, like the worst of sucker punches, one minute normalcy, the next complete and utter devastation. To have lived through it, as a witness, was bad enough, but for victims, survivors, and families of those lost, the images of that fateful fall day are forever reminders of a personal and national nightmare, and to relive them, in any form, is to relive an ungodly pain, which is one of the reasons many have questioned whether, only five years later, it’s appropriate to be recreating the events for public entertainment on the big screen. There are varying opinions on the subject, but I feel that, like any great tragedy, if the cinema can tastefully represent the events, evenhanded and non exploitative, than it’s okay, and in the case of “United 93”, the first major studio fictionalization of 9/11 (Oliver Stone’s “World Trade Center” will be released later this summer), respect is the overriding emphasis; respect for the dead, respect for their survivors, respect for the thousands of professionals who worked double and triple shifts to assess, and control the terrible events, and respect for the enormity of it all, and how the image of two falling towers, a flaming hole in a famous government landmark, and a pile of rubble in a Pennsylvania field would forever leave a scar on the American psyche, but never a mark on it’s national pride. This is an important, sensitive subject, and there were a number of ways it could have gone wrong, so to have a film as touching, riveting, and realistically respectful and tasteful as “United 93” is something of a miracle, one that rightfully shows the unpredictability of terrorism, and the fearlessness of those who tried their best to stop it. “United 93”, directed by Paul Greengrass (“Bloody Sunday”), a master of visual intensity and blending action with sophisticated and believable character study, is at once about the fourth hijacked airplane that never reached its destination in Washington, landing in a PA farm field after a heroic passenger revolt, and about the frenzied, professional air traffic controllers who monitored the skies as one plane after another was commandeered, and who completely cleared the grid when it became obvious that every plane in the air could be a potential target. In almost documentary-like, real time fashion, Greengrass takes us through every step of the morning, from the time the four United 93 terrorists awake in their Newark motel rooms, praying to Allah for the courage to complete their well planned mission, to the horrifying final moments of the flight, when a handful of brave passengers decided, when word had spread throughout the plane that the World Trade Center had been destroyed earlier and that they were probably on a similar suicide mission, to risk their own lives to save hundreds of others by overtaking the terrorists, causing the mid-field crash that was eventually meant for the U.S Capital. In between the early morning preparations, and the terrifying final moments of the flight (this may be the most frightening, and realistic, airplane film ever made), every aspect of the air traffic control procedure is documented, from the time the first plane goes off radar, to the confusion, and abject horror, when the third missing plane barrels into the second tower on live TV, causing an immediate panic, and an eastern military mobilization that, had 93 reached its Washington target, would have been too slow to prevent further devastation. No blame is put on anybody in the ATC headquarters (most of the actual professionals proudly play themselves), nor is it suggested that had the Air Defense headquarters acted quicker when word of the first hijacking was made available that a catastrophe could have been avoided, the film isn’t about politics, or about the Why’s and What If’s of the impossible situation, but about the grueling task of figuring out an unprecedented situation (says one air traffic controller, “We haven’t had a hijacking in 20 years.”), and getting through it with as much of a level head as possible. You can forgive the passengers of U93 for breaking down under the dire pressure of a hijacking, and getting weepy while phoning their families when death seemed imminent, in the film’s most heart wrenching moments, but credit the men behind the scenes for staying relatively calm in an otherwise distressing series of events that would test the emotional strength of anybody. Greengrass obviously has respect for these men, who witnessed the disaster as something more than the rest of us, as part of their jobs, and by the end of the film, so do we. What’s so special about “United 93” is that everything about the situation is so evenhanded; the pilots are regular Joe’s with families and golf schedules, the passengers are simply businessmen and vacationers, the air traffic controllers are hard working nine to fivers caught in the middle of the country’s worst day since 1941, and the terrorists, as villainous as they could have been portrayed, are as normal as you and me, until fate intervenes, and their collective brainwashing allows them to forsake their freedom in America for the worst possible cause, a fanatical message. The film is shockingly realistic, from the disturbing image, from the Newark air traffic tower, of the second tower being hit, to the breathtaking and intense revolt on 93 (“Guys, what are we waiting for, let’s roll,” is the now famous motivational battle cry of passenger Todd Beamer), Greengrass never misses a beat in portraying the events, and the behind the scenes workings, as anything but the respectfully accurate, and tastefully perceived (obviously the scenes on the plane are suggestions of what it was probably like on the doomed flight) way in which things went down on September 11th, 2001. “United 93” is not entertainment, and it’s not a documentary, but what it is is as close to a filmed document as possible, and whether or not you agree that it’s okay to be fictionalizing 9/11 for the movies, you have to appreciate the professionalism, and absolute mastery, of Paul Greengrass’ heartfelt, aching, and heroic neo-realistic vision of one unforgettable day of terror in America’s beautiful blue skies. “United 93” is playing at the McKinley Mall cinema. by Adam Suraf
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