Review of One Day in September (1999) by Erik K — 18 Sep 2005

The thing I love about documentaries is that they dissect an event into its unique parts and then cohesively weaves them all back together again inside a glass box so all can see how the parts fit together to make a whole.

[i]One Day In September[/i] takes a scalpel to the tragic 1972 Olympics massacre of eleven Israeli athletes and cuts away the bull-crap to show what really happened and why.

Using the lone terrorist survivor as background and narrative, the film casts a unique light on the event and touches on many levels. It shows and explains the terrorists? motives and psyche, the naivety and incompetence of the Germans, the plight and fear of the Israeli captives, and finally the ubiquitous apathy of the world toward the dilemma.

In Munch, the birthplace of Nazism, 1972 Germany was trying to dispel with its stigmatized roots and establish themselves as the center for peace and understanding. Unfortunately for them, their PR utopia became their nightmare when Palestinian terrorists captured eleven Israeli Olympic athletes in their rooms and threatened to kill them if Israel did not release 200+ Palestinian prisoners. Israel, of course, refused.

The incompetence of the German authorities to solve the situation stemmed from their uber-rational mind. They thought that, like most people, terrorists could be reasoned with. They were wrong. They tried to understand why they were doing what they were rather than allowing Mossad rescue teams in.

Unfortunately for the Israelis, the German officials were also apathetic. Only when international pressure became unbearable did the German officials pause the Games to focus on the hostage situation. Even when one Israeli was killed the rest of the world?s athletes continued to practice or tan in the sun right across the street from the situation.

Rife with taut suspense and shattering interviews, this film kept my interest unto the last. Though I knew what was going to happen, I didn?t know how it would end, and the suspense was palpable and intense.