Re-creation and reactions
RANDOR GUY
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`United 93,' a 9/11 tale, has just been released in the U.S., and the response has been overwhelming.
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SAGA OF COURAGE: United 93
Never in the history of motion pictures has so much controversy been generated, in so short a period, by a single movie. Indeed just hours after the release of `United 93,' which opened in many cinemas in the U.S. on April, 28, a spate of reviews appeared in publications, and critics went on air to voice their opinions about the movie.
Critics are of the opinion that `United 93' will be the most discussed film of 2006, and will be written and spoken about for many years to come.
The film tells the tense, traumatic tale of the 40 passengers and seven members of the crew, their families on the ground, the flight controllers and the army personnel who watched with mounting horror, United Airlines Flight 93 becoming the fourth plane to be hijacked on the ill-fated day of September 11, 2001.
The movie recreates the doomed-day flight from the take-off to hijacking, and the shock of those innocent people on the plane, who were unaware of the fate awaiting them when they boarded the soon-to-perish plane. (But the watching moviegoer does, and this heightens the suspense and tension of the inhuman act of the two hijackers.)
The plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, in rural Pennsylvania, and burst into flames destroying all, including the two terrorists.
The movie also delves deep into the indomitable human spirit and courage of the 40 people on board, total strangers who came together to take on the two maniacal hijackers, and successfully prevented them from achieving their inhuman objectives of crashing the plane into the Capital Building, in Washington DC.
In such noble venture they sacrificed their lives bestowing prestige and pride to the American nation, her common men and women. The `morphing' of the victim into a victorious hero, is what this film is all about, and it is told with igniting tension in real time, not cinematic time.
The director
The movie has been written and directed by the British writer-director Paul Greengrass, who is actively interested in documentary films.
He rose into prominence internationally when he won an award at Berlin for his `Bloody Sunday,' based on the massacre during the Revolution of Northern Ireland. He made a name in America with his hit fiction film `The Bourne Supremacy.'
He studied in depth the September 11, 2001, Commission Report and also interviewed the families of those who perished in the plane crash, the ground staff and the military personnel involved in the rescue operations.
It was a masterstroke when he brought in the real-life Airlines staff and military personnel to play themselves in the movie.
Mixed reactions
When the movie was shown at a New York film festival there was hue and cry about making a film on a national calamity, the wounds of which are still raw in American minds.
Many people condemned the film that it had been made too soon, but Greengrass thinks otherwise and so do some critics.
When he held the premier in New York a similar situation arose. Indeed a trailer was pulled out in a New York cinema because a solitary female moviegoer complained to the theatre management that it was upsetting her and making her sick.
The `USA Today - Gallup poll' showed that 60 per cent did not want such a film to be made so soon.
Ironically the movie was released in a cinema house situated quite close to the actual site of the crash. However noted critics have praised the film and said it has been made at the right time. Every publication across the nation has given the movie five-star rating and praised Greengrass for making such a film, even though he was not American.
Interestingly Greengrass had an end title card which read, `America's war on terrorism has begun!' There were objections and Greengrass pulled it out and replaced it with another — `Dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives on September 11 2001.'
Technically effective
Being a documentary filmmaker Greengrass has taken great care to make it as realistic as possible.
Technically as a documentary filmmaker his use of the handycam proves a great asset as it brings into focus, the confusion, horror, fear and bold decision of the passengers to crash into the cockpit and prevent the terrorists from destroying the Capital building. A martial arts specialist is believed to have given the clarion call to other passengers to rise in revolt, not by shouting or screaming, but by merely whispering, `Let's roll!'
The box office results of, `United 93,' has effectively set aside the objectors' contention. In a mere three-day screening in 1,795 movie houses, the box office collection totalled $11.6 millions to occupy the second place in the list of top 10 box office hits of the weekend. Interestingly the movie cost of $11- 12 million has been recovered in just three days! `United 93' is slated for screening at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
(This writer watched about 10 trailers of the movie of varying content and length. Besides he studied, heard and watched nearly 50 reviews in print, and audio-visual media for research in writing this article.)
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