“ 'September 5” is one of the more compelling cases on film in recent years for the logic of Zionism. Not three decades after Auschwitz minted corpses and ash, the world watched while Jews were murdered in the city of Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch. Germany was not the villain at Munich, but the West Germans were so afraid of repeating their past that, by abjuring a strong military, they enabled an echo of history. That is a lesson to never forget." . . .
"An attack against Israelis in the small hours of the dawn. Hostages taken in front of a stunned world, footage capturing the horror in real time. That could describe not only October 7, 2023, but also September 5, 1972 — the massacre at the Munich Olympics. A new movie, called simply “September 5,” offers a fresh angle on the event. Its focus is how the attacks were covered by ABC News, which beamed the brutality to 900 million people.
"The 1972 Olympics were intended to introduce the world to a new Germany. The last games on German soil, in 1936 at Berlin, had been presided over by Hitler. The 1972 games offered a new chance but, in the event, showcased the world’s oldest hate, courtesy of Palestinian Arab terrorists of the Black September organization. Eleven Israeli athletes were killed following a cascade of errors by West German security forces.
"This story has been told before, most recently by the director Steven Spielberg in his “Munich,” which focused on the subsequent Israeli effort, directed by Israel’s premier, Golda Meir, to deliver justice to those responsible for the massacre. That ambition led to “Operation Wrath of God,” which exacted vengeance over more than 20 years. “September 5,” directed by Tim Fehlbaum, covers only the attack itself, and is the stronger for its restraint.
"The insight of “September 5” is that tightening its ambit amplifies its force rather than narrowing its vision. The focus on broadcasting craft liberates the film to hew close to the savagery and eschew cant and justification. George Orwell wrote that “to see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.” The movie at least makes the effort to do that. Its lens offers an argument for medium over message and craft over context." . . .
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