One Day in September (1999)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Kevin Macdonald

Release Date:

24 August 2000 (Australia)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

The Palestinian terrorist group Black September holds Israeli athletes hostage at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich.

Plot Keywords:

Olympics | Palestinian | Hostage | Munich Olympics | Munich Germany

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Michael Douglas	...	Himself / Narrator (voice)
Ankie Spitzer	...	Herself
Jamal Al Gashey	...	Himself
Gerald Seymour	...	Himself
Axel Springer	...	Himself
Gad Zahari	...	Himself
Shmuel Lalkin	...	Himself
Manfred Schreiber	...	Himself
Walter Troger	...	Himself
Ulrich K. Wegener	...	Himself
Hans-Dietrich Genscher	...	Himself
Schlomit Romajo	...	Herself
Magdi Gahary	...	Himself
Zvi Zamir	...	Himself
Dan Shillon	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Ein Tag im September (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for some graphic violent images

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

Switzerland | Germany | UK

Language:

English | German

Colour:

Black and White | Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:MA | Germany:12 | UK:15 | USA:R

Company:

Passion Pictures

Quotes:

Jim McKay: When I was a kid my father used to say our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized. Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They have now said there were eleven hostages; two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning, nine were killed at the airport tonight. They're all gone.

Movie Connections:

Features Olympia 1. Teil - Fest der Völker (1938)

Soundtrack:

Facades

Tremendous research and footage of an unspeakable act.

As someone who was glued to ABC in 1972 during the entire terrorist act this very well done documentary brought back horrible memories. But the memory of these murders must be kept alive because they obviously are not being taught to our children in school as the comments by someone who had never heard of the Olympic massacre point out.

The director pulls out all stops in presenting the story using archival footage, computer models, musical montages, film of the present day sites and interviews with the participants with the most noteworthy one being with the sole surviving murderer. The only criticism I have of the film is that the flashy editing sometimes works to trivialize the incidents.

It is very illuminating to read the prior comments made about this film. It is also very sad to see the morally bankrupt calls for putting the murders "in perspective" as if anything could justify the cold blooded massacre of innocents. But of course we hear those justifications today over the most recent massacres.