...thoroughly gripping and heart wrenching.
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As I write this review, it is the five-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks that have forever changed the way we live our lives. It was inevitable that movies and fictionalized accounts of that tragedy would be made. I don't think that was ever in question. The real question on everyone's lips was, "Is it too soon?" An even bigger question, in my eyes, would be, is there really an appropriate time to relive those events? I don't have the answer. I had a hard time sitting through "United 93", not at all because it was bad filmmaking, but because of the subject matter. In five or ten years, will it be any easier? Doubtful.
Director Paul Greengrass has done a superb job in depicting the events of 9/11, specifically the fate of United Airlines Flight 93, the only hijacked airliner that did not reach its intended target thanks to the efforts of its passengers. "United 93" isn't the first film to deal with 9/11, but it is the first major Hollywood film to do so and has the full support of the families (except one) of Flight 93's passengers. In fact, A&E produced its own made-for-TV movie, "Flight 93", with the same subject matter around the same time.
The film begins with the four terrorists as they prepare for their suicide mission. Through voiceover, we hear one of them reading a prayer from the Koran. The terrorists arrive at the airport and they, along with the passengers and crew begin to the board the plane. No one has a single clue what is about to happen. While they prepare for takeoff (which is later delayed by heavy air traffic), traffic control in Boston begin to suspect another aircraft (American Airlines 11) has been taken. Air traffic contacts the FAA, who eventually get in touch with the military. Everyone jumps at the word, "hijack." Nobody believes it and nobody has any idea what is going on. It is only when somebody turns on CNN that they realize the World Trade Center was hit.
Still, it is just not conceivable that somebody would purposely crash into the Towers. Until the film's midpoint when a second plane crashes into the remaining tower. The traffic controllers scramble to raise pilots and crew on the radio. The FAA attempt to discern which planes have been hijacked and which are false alarms. The military, aware of the situation, tries desperately to get permission to activate fighter jets. When jets have taken off, they are sent in the wrong direction. There is confusion amongst themselves and with one another as communication between departments is no better. No one is prepared for this.
The final act of the film follows the passengers of United 93 as they contact their loved ones using air phones and cell phones. They learn that the Towers and the Pentagon have been hit, that the pilots have been killed. Spurred on by this knowledge, they make the decision to rush the hijackers and retake the plane. We already know how this ends.
Greengrass brings as much of a realistic take as possible. Using handheld cameras and a majority of medium shots and close-ups, he puts us right in there with the passengers and everyone involved. Much like Greengrass did with "Bloody Sunday", there is a heavy documentary feel to "United 93." It also goes beyond using a cast of relative unknowns. The flight attendants are played by real flight attendants. The pilots are real pilots. Many of the traffic controllers and military personnel were played by people who were actually on duty that day. Ben Sliney, the FAA's Director of Operations, plays himself and September 11th was actually his first day on the job.
All the events are simply presented to you, without any outside voice or influence stirring it towards one interpretation. The passengers final goodbyes are juxtaposed with the final prayers of the hijackers. Neither side is portrayed as super-heroic or super-villainous. The terrorists aren't the cackling type you've seen before in films like "True Lies." There is fear on their faces as they prepare to take the plane. No passenger is singled out as a ringleader or superman. They are all in it together.
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