It was a privilege to see this excellent film at the AFI Film Festival
Synopsis
During the 1972 Munich Olympics, an American sportscasting crew was forced to cover the hosting crisis involving Israeli athletes.
The film is set in the ABC control room in Munich for the 1972 Olympics
It realistically portrays both 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, competition for satellite space, manual graphics insertion, etc)
The control room is manned by ABC Sports President Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), rookie 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 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 used the tape of Jennings speaking from the Olympic Village).