|
There are those that would have you believe that a film such as United 93 (or World Trade Center coming later this year) should not have been made - at least not this soon. The tragic events of 9/11 are still too fresh in our gullets they will scowl - how dare someone take such advantage of tragedy others will snarl. Still others will claim the supposed war on terrorism, as the White House so humbly calls their latest xenophobic masterplan, is still raging and we should not make light of such a situation (indeed no film was made about Pearl Harbor until several years after the war had ended, but...). None of these arguments though, hold any water.
First off, in the four and a half years since 9/11, those same events have been co-opted by so many different groups - on both sides of the political red/blue aisle - for their own agends, not to mention the opportunistic mileage a certain administration is getting out of said events, a movie or two is really nothing more than a drop in the bucket more or less. As long, that is, as it is done in a respectful, non-exploitive manner - which Paul Greengrass, whose Bloody Sunday was a docudrama triumph of the blending of reality with cinema, has accomplished in spades.
The other concern I have regarding all those naysayers - many of whom over the last month or so, have been heard booing as the trailers played - is the simple fact that no subject should be off limits to filmmakers (or poets, writers, artists, musicians and such for that matter). Any event - even one as caticlismatic (at least as far as Americans are concerned) as 9/11 - should be able to be breached by those willing to take a stand. And what a grand stand Paul Greengrass has made. Almost as if diametrically opposed to all the name-calling rhetoric that has accompanied so many books, newspaper and magazine articles, talk shows and the like concerning the events of 9/11, Greengrass has created a sublime - if not almost surreal - film out of those ugly hours of September 11th, 2001 - never once stooping to emotional manipulation or exploitive tactics (which is probably something that will not be able to be said about Oliver Stone's upcoming take on the same day and the same events).
After a debut at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it played in the very shadow of the former World Trade Center, United 93 arrived with a rather unappicipatory fanfare, but with its near documentary-style camera work and use of mostly unknown faces, the film played much more beatifully - even during its ugly moments - than anyone could have realistically anticipated.
In closing, I would like to state that there is so much more I could say about this film, as well as the actual events of that fateful day, and those that know me can attest to this being true (just read some of my politically left-bent poetry), but I choose not to and I'll leave just the silence that ends the film instead.
- April 29, 2006
|
