17/41
The film takes place in the ABC control room at the 1972 Munich Olympics
Story
During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, an American sports broadcasting team is tasked with reporting on the capture of Israeli athletes. I had the privilege of seeing this excellent film at the AFI Film Festival.
their roles brilliantly
It realistically depicts the routine aspects of running a control room during an event and of course the tragic Black September attacks on Israeli athletes. In the control room sit ABC sports president Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), junior producer Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro), vice president of Olympic coverage Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin) and German interpreter Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch), all acting.
The realism is further enhanced by the use of archival footage from Jim McKay’s coverage of the tragedy
The film also accurately shows how technology that was considered cutting-edge at the time seems amusingly primitive today (examples include giant VCRs, competition for satellite space, manual graphics insertion, etc.). But the key aspect of any thriller is Tim Fehlbaum’s writing and direction, which keeps you on edge throughout the film.
But this criticism does not prevent me from highly recommending this excellent film – you must see it!
My only minor gripe is the casting of Benjamin Walker as Peter Jennings – he doesn’t seem quite right for the role of the handsome and dapper anchorman I remember (I’d probably drop his role and just rely on the tape of Jennings speaking from Olympic Village).
