Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

FILM REVIEW: 'United 93' a powerful depiction of 9/11
By Cate Marquis
The Current (U. Missouri-St. Louis)
05/30/2006

(U-WIRE) ST. LOUIS — "United 93" may be difficult to watch, but this film is a powerful and important tribute, and reminder, worthy of the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

The movie trailer for the film was sometimes greeted by cries of "too soon" from the audience, as it seemed to hint at a gung-ho, overly dramatic, Hollywood action film treatment of a tragedy too recent.

Contrary to that impression, "United 93" is a restrained, documentary-style and meticulously researched retelling of the human events of that tragic day. The film unfolds without commentary in nearly real time, and creates a fitting tribute to those who died, as well as a reminder of facts that might already be fading from the public memory.

Without editorializing, British director Paul Greengrass's documentary style film re-creates the events aboard United Airlines flight 93, which went down in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers and crew rushed the cockpit and tried to seize control of the plane from its hijackers.

Greengrass's' approach to the subject is similar to his treatment of events in his previous film "Bloody Sunday," a recreation of a protest march in Northern Ireland that led to a massacre that sparked the modern Irish troubles.

"United 93" was supported by the cooperation of all 40 families of the passengers aboard the plane. The studio is also donating 10 percent of the opening weekend profits to a memorial at the crash site. "United 93" makes a respectful and fitting, but powerful memorial to their loss.

"United 93" centers on the events aboard the hijacked flight United 93, which crashed in a cornfield, killing all aboard. The film really recounts all the events of that tragic day.

By using the events aboard the one out of the four hijacked planes which did not hit its target on Sept. 11, 2001, Greengrass focuses on ordinary people who did extraordinary things in the one heroic strike back against the attackers.

The film opens with the plane's hijackers in their morning prayers and the passengers traveling to the airport. Flight attendants and air traffic controllers go about their normal routines. The normalcy of their actions and the slow pace build tension as we anticipate what we know will come.

As the film unfolds, we are taken back to the chaos and communication break downs of that day, along with the memories of individual bravery.

Although you know the outcome, you cannot help hoping for a different ending as the passengers struggle for control of the plane. While the tone of the film is restrained and straight forward, you cannot avoid being transported back to the feelings of the day, making the film emotionally draining as well.

Paul Greengrass uses a handheld camera, natural and overlapping dialog and no big-name stars to create realism in the film. Actors were cast alongside the real people who were present at the actual events. Air traffic controllers and military personnel who were present that day appear in the film, and actors worked with family members in their portrayals of the passengers.

Greengrass' exacting research and the help of those who were there allowed him to carefully recreate events on the ground and conversations with families but some speculation about exactly what the passengers of United flight 93 said or did was still necessary. Still, the director worked with family members and the known facts to stay as true to the events as possible.

The humanity of everyone involved is part of the film's key to its realism, along with the lack of Hollywood dramatics. Participation of the passengers' families and of people involved in events that day was critical to this.

Every character is represented as a real human being, not a stereotype, including the hijackers. The cast is very average-looking actors, avoiding recognizable stars and having people who were really there playing roles as extras, gives the film the heightened realism it deserves. The ensemble performances are powerful, as are striking individual performances.

Ben Sliney plays himself as the Federal Aviation Administration operations manager, and being aware of this fact heightens the tension of his scenes.

On the other end, actor Jamie Harding, who has an innocent, all-American face and innocuous look in his striped polo shirt, plays one of the most brutal hijackers. I personally was struck by the reminder of the bravery of the people on board the plane and on the ground, as air traffic controllers and air force personnel scrambled to deal resourcefully with their inability to communicate with each other or the upper levels of government.

It sometimes seems that while the phrase 9/11 is often mentioned, our memory of the details of the events may be fading. Families' concern about both the inevitability of a Hollywood move on the topic — Oliver Stone's film will follow later this summer — and fading public memory reportedly prompted participation, so that their own story could be told. All forty families were represented at the film's premiere at the New York Tribeca Film Festival last week.

"United 93" is not the first film on 9/11 events. Previous documentaries and TV productions have preceded it, and that big-budget, Oliver Stone film dramatizing the story of firefighters in the twin towers will follow later this summer. But this first dramatic film may set the standard, by respectfully and accurately reflecting the events of the day.

Because the director is British, not American, and offers such a dry, factual approach, the film reminds us of the events of that fateful day without provoking accusations of partisan slant or agenda. Greengrass purpose in making the film seems to be to remind us of event's details and to spark discussion.

"United 93" is a film all Americans should see, despite the emotional nature, for the common catharsis and the valid reminder of facts that should not be forgotten. Those who are still unsure of how the subject is handled might want to rent the DVD of "Bloody Sunday," for the approach to that real-life event is very similar.

Some people many still object to this reminder of the events of Sept. 11 but for most of us, this is an important way to both honor their sacrifice and remind us of what went wrong, what has changed and what has not, and what we needed to do about it.

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