I was barely one-year-old when the opening ceremonies kicked off the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics. The games were being held in Germany for the first time since the country had been freed from Nazi rule. But the horrific events that transpired overshadowed the actual competitions. In the early morning hours of September 5th, eight armed members of the Palestinian militant group Black September slipped into the Olympic Village and took eleven Israeli athletes and staff hostage.

“September 5” chronicles ABC Sports’ live coverage of the shocking attack and the subsequent 18-hour standoff. Director Tim Fehlbaum crafts a gripping and fast-paced thriller that respects the memories of the victims while scrutinizing some of the decisions that led to the event’s violent conclusion. But at its core “September 5” is a taut journalism procedural that goes to painstaking lengths to recreate what it was like inside the ABC Studio in Munich during the unprecedented crisis.

Fehlbaum puts together a strong and well-tuned cast who all seem to understand their assignment. The trio of screenwriters which includes Fehlbaum, Moritz Binder, and Alex David pen a screenplay that zeroes in on the professional pressures and the emotional toll the broadcast team faced during a moment in history that forever changed television news. In the process, they’ve helped make one of the most riveting edge-of-your-seat thrillers of the year.

The ensemble’s actions and interactions are vital gears steadily turning to keep the propulsive story moving forward. It all plays out in real-time and is mostly set on that eponymous date. Just a few hundred yards from Munich’s Olympic Village, ABC has set up a studio that is broadcasting a live sporting event across the world for the very first time. ABC Sports president Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) runs the show, often standing in the back of the control room monitoring his team of producers and intervening whenever he sees fit.

One of those producers is newcomer Geoff Mason (John Magaro) who is about to take on his first live television broadcast for the company. Among the sizable crew is the seasoned and cautious head of operations, Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), the chief technician, Jacques Lesgards (Zinedine Soualem), and the crew’s German translator, Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch). Their day starts out pretty routine. That is until the echo of gunshots are heard coming from the Olympic Village.

Almost immediately reports begin pouring in and the crew starts parsing through them in order to piece together the truth. They narrow the gunfire down to the Israeli quarters and confirm that terrorists are holding several athletes and coaches hostage in two apartments. From there the decision is made to take the story to the world, providing on-air coverage of breaking news while offering live camera shots of the apartments and the surrounding chaos. Suddenly Geoff finds himself managing more than volleyball and boxing.

The story has a natural tension baked into it as the crew attempts to navigate truly uncharted territory. But several other concerns help ratchet that tension even higher. There’s their battle with ABC’s news division who wants to take over the story. There are the questions of journalistic ethics and responsibilities as they face new unknowns. And things really intensify after they realize their efforts to keep the public informed may be putting the hostages in danger.

In addition to the incredible recreation of the studio in all its 1972 glory, Fehlbaum gives his movie the illusion of being shot on high-contrast 16mm film stock. He also incorporates a ton of archived audio and video of legendary sportscaster Jim McKay and newsman Peter Jennings along with other related footage from ABC Sports. All are effective choices that help with the immersion.

While the hectic operation of the studio is fascinating to watch, Fehlbaum maintains the human element of his story by showing how the unfolding events weigh on his characters. The very nature of events doesn’t allow them a lot of time to process, but Fehlbaum ensures that we understand their struggle. It’s those small but crucial strokes of humanity that make “September 5” more than just a stone-cold procedural. It’s an in-the-trenches examination of journalism’s search for truth and the talented but fallible men and women at the center of it.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS