| Product: |
United 93 (DVD) |
| Date: |
18/06/06 (157 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Powerful, disturbing drama
Disadvantages: None
On September 11th 2001, the world as we then knew it ended. When terrorists crashed hijacked planes into the World Trade Centre and The Pentagon, America was powerless to do anything about it. The world watched, aghast, as many lives were lost, most of us stricken with the grief and emotion of the situation. Although that day was the closest to Armageddon that any of us would ever want to see, it is worth remembering that one potential disaster was averted. When the passengers of US Flight 93 wrestled for control of their hijacked plane it’s hard to calculate how many lives they might have saved but the fact remains that the fourth plane never hit its target. United 93 is the story of this flight.
Writing a review of this film is a difficult task, but it’s easily eclipsed by the difficulty of any film maker who decides to turn his hand at making such a film. Faced with a barrage of inevitable criticisms that the film has been made too soon after the actual events, director, Paul Greengrass has crafted a product that is as disturbing as it is compelling. Filmed in gritty, docu-drama style, the film plays out in real time the terrible events of that day, focusing intently on the fate of flight 93, and how the world’s foremost superpower found itself to be so completely powerless in the face of such determined terrorism.
In spite of the disastrous events depicted, United 93 is not a disaster movie. Any attempt to produce it in such a way, would have been deemed utterly offensive (and rightly so.) Instead, it has an eerie calm about it and an almost calculated efficiency about the way in which details are pieced together. We watch the passengers, crew and hijackers simultaneously and unwittingly boarding the plane. We see the air traffic controllers (some played by the real people) starting what they believe will be just another ordinary day. In the military air command centre, the staff are setting out on an exercise drill to test out one of the many scenarios that they never believe will actually happen. The pilot discusses his forthcoming holiday with his co-pilot and the volume of air traffic results in the all too common delay on the runway. All these things are approached with the every day calm and normality that would have been the case that morning. Except, of course, the audience understands the significance of the nervous-looking passengers sat in first class, waiting for the right moment to strike.
United 93 doesn’t really seem to have a political message. Instead, the director focuses on contrasts. We bear witness to the organisational might of the US, setting about an ordinary day’s routines for air traffic control and military protection. In contrast, we then see three ordinary-looking men, preparing for the task in hand with humble prayer. Armed simply with knives, these men then wrestle control of passenger jets, wielding the craft like deadly weapons, while the US military is in contrast completely unable to find the resources to defend itself from them. When the Americans realise that planes have been flown into the World Trade Centre, they greet the news with terror and disbelief. When the terrorists find out, they celebrate the relative successes of their brothers. The desperate tearful, last minute calls to the passengers’ loved ones are a dark reminder of calls made earlier in the film by the terrorists, using the same “I love you” words but with a resoundingly different perspective.
For what is essentially a much understated film, United 93 has some powerful and memorable visuals. As the traffic controllers at Newark airport try and spot a rogue aircraft, the audience watches with them as a jumbo jet appears to the right and then sweeps across their panoramic window to the left of the screen to collide with the World Trade Centre, off camera. It’s a pivotal moment in the film. The realisation that what was originally considered to be a “normal” hijacking is now something far more sinister is very effectively portrayed. Initially, the air traffic controllers are almost excited. One of them is even heard saying that they haven’t had a hijacking for over twenty years. It sounds almost offensive, but it’s a timely reminder of just how complacent everyone was in the pre 9/11 world.
The attacks on the World Trade Centre are, of course, not the focus of the film and whilst they played a pivotal role in the day’s events, only the initial crashes are seen here. We don’t see the towers collapse, nor do we see any of the scenes of chaos in New York City, as the focus remains solely on flight 93. Indeed, there is an almost unbearable build up of tension as we begin to wonder when the terrorists will pounce. In the end, of course, they do, but even then, the tension doesn’t break. After an initial flurry of activity, there is a second, even more unbearable build up in tension as the desperate passengers try and establish what they should do. It is only when the film finally gives way to its final five minutes that the tension is broken, the story descends into chaos and all hell breaks loose.
United 93 had a profound effect on me. I’m not entirely sure why I wanted to see it all, as it was never going to be an entertaining night out, but I felt compelled nonetheless. It was never really going to yield any surprises either, but as I walked away from the cinema, the sheer horror of it all really struck me. Without resorting to jingoistic dramatics, overblown special effects or famous actors, Greengrass simply reminds us of the huge impact of the events of 9/11 and the sheer pointlessness of so many lives wiped out. Whilst he makes no attempt to investigate any of the politics that led to such a situation arising, Greengrass cannot fail to demonstrate the fact that so many American civilians were let down so badly by their government, as their defences were apparently left wide open to such a dreadful assault.
But the human story of the film is easily the most compelling. None of us could really fail to be disturbed by the inescapable fact that these things really happened and that these people really went through this ordeal. The passengers on flight 93 are never shown as all American heroes. As they realise the seriousness of what is about to happen, even the men weep down the telephone, desperate to tell their wives that they love them. Their final attempt at defiance is not for the love of America. It’s to try and get them a second chance to see their families again; they literally fight to survive. As the final assault takes place, a glimmer of hope seems to come from somewhere that the passengers will somehow succeed and that flight 93 will not plunge to the ground, killing everyone on board. But this is, obviously, not the case. It is with a numb heart that you sit and watch the final credits roll, a further reminder (as if it were needed) that man’s inhumanity to man remains one of the most shocking realities of the world we live in today.
United 93 is an exceptional film. As a slice of historical story telling, it is completely relevant and will be used as such, I’m sure, for many years to come. United 93 is a horrible film about a terrible chain events but it’s one that everyone should see, for sure.
Summary: Gritty, disturbing and realistic recreation of the fourth 9/11 jet's demise
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