Noticias

10/27

It was my privilege to see this excellent film at the AFI Film Festival

Scenario

During the 1972 Munich Olympics, an American sportscasting crew is forced to cover the hostage crisis involving Israeli athletes.

The film is set in the ABC control room in Munich for the 1972 Olympics

It realistically portrays the day-to-day aspects of running a control room during an event and, of course, the tragic occurrence of the Black September attacks on Israeli athletes.

The film also accurately depicts how technology that was considered cutting-edge at the time seems amusingly primitive today (examples include giant VTR machines, competing for satellite space, manually inputting graphics, etc)

The control room is staffed by ABC Sports President Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), budding producer Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro), Vice President of Olympic Coverage Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), and German interpreter Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch), all of whom excel in their roles.

Adding to the realism is the use of archival footage from Jim McKay’s reporting on the tragedy

But the key aspect of any thriller is Tim Fehlbaum’s writing and direction, which keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the film.

But that complaint certainly doesn’t stop me from highly recommending this excellent film – it’s a must-see!

My only minor complaint is the casting of Benjamin Walker as Peter Jennings – he doesn’t quite look the part as the handsome, dapper anchorman I remember (I probably would have cut his character and just relied on the tape of Jennings speaking from the Olympic village).