united 93

i didn't have the will power to go and see this film upon release last year
but in light of last week's viewing of the dvd of 11 09 01 september 11
and 21 of the leaders of the free world are tonight my neighbours
i felt the urge to mark the occasion with something of significance
joining the march today would have been a worthy exercise
but it was raining and i had work to do and i left it too late and...and...and...
besides what could possibly upstage the efforts of the chaser team on thursday
apparantly their efforts have made the event more newsworthy than the event itself
high profile lawyer chris murphy wants to defend them when they appear in court on october 4
he says our sense of humour is under attack and needs to be defended
i say we have a watershed moment upon us that will reverberate for years to come
everyone is talking about it and the papers are full of letters defending their actions
if i could bring myself to do it i think talkback radio on monday morning could be very interesting
tonight i decided i really had to follow up on the fine reviews this film had upon release last year
it is largely a re-creation of the events surrounding flight united 93 on september 11 2001
this is the one that crashed into a field into pennsylvania short of it's presumed target of the white house
the film starts out with a fine depiction of life in a busy airport
as we are taken through a lot of the behind the scenes activity of flight control
so in that sense the film seems to take on the feel of a documentary
the scenes are so well set up and recorded that it's easy to forget this is a re-construction
of particular interest is the number of people involved in flight control
many sitting in front of computer screens and resembling the craziness of a stock exchange
on this historical morning we are told there are 4200 flights in the air
we cut between managing this and the preparations for getting united 93 in the air
as passengers leave hotels, arrive at the airport, go through security checks and board the plane
while this is happening clues of the impending disaster start popping up
and the tension also starts to build with some powerful background music
at this point i noticed my own heart rate had been heightened
we see shots off in the distance from newark of one of the towers burning
then as part of flight control we witness the second plane hit it's target
and the reaction of the people we are with is chillingly presented
the bloke in charge has to hold it all together without the strangely absent assistance of the military
soon it becomes apparant that flight 93 has also been hijacked though cannot be contacted
the later part of the film is spent on the plane as the hijackers take over
chaos rules with film-making at it's best depicting the panic of all on board
as order is restored the passengers plot their own re-taking of the plane
which ends in disaster with the plane crashing into the field short of it's target
this film is as good as i had been led to believe
it seems to very deliberately avoid any finger-pointing or stereo-typing
so as such there are no baddies or goodies or heroes or villains
just a lot of people doing their jobs, living their lives, following their convictions
probably a good thing there are no big name actors involved to provide an unnecessary distraction
my heart rate remained high throughout the film and only reduced when it was all over
this film is a fine example of drama meets documentary
go chaser