'One Day in September'

"One Day in September" is a documentary about the Palestinian terrorists taking Israeli athletes hostage during the 1972 Munich Olympics. The Munich debacle was the first internationally televised warning of the horrors of political violence, and it launched a new era of international terrorism.

The film includes actual footage taken at the time and interviews with the only surviving terrorist, Jamal Al Gashey, who is still in hiding in Africa, and various officials detailing exactly how the German police, who lacked an anti-terrorist squad, rejected assistance from the Israelis and thoroughly bungled the rescue attempt.

There is no way to walk away from this film without recognizing how ill-prepared the German government was to handle a terrorist situation. Not only was the entire rescue event botched and competent expertise rejected, there were lies, false accusations, monumental incompetence and behind-the-scenes double dealing. An important message from this film is the understanding that 30 years later with America's 9/11 not much had changed, in spite of the obvious warning.

This documentary is perfectly conceived as it explores the event in its much larger historical context, rather than only focusing on the actual event itself. It somehow distills the 21 horrific hours of September 5, 1970 into an hour-and-a-half of clarity. It succeeds where so many documentaries fail in that the forest is revealed through the trees. Yet, the human tragedy is not swept under the rug.

The film is set against the backdrop of the German government desperately attempting to create the atmosphere of peace and openness to erase the blight of the 1936 Olympics, which was full of Nazi propaganda. In broad strokes it also touches on the ongoing Israel-Arab conflict, the meaning of the Olympics, the commercial nature of the event and how this drove many of the decisions. Not forgotten is the media's culpability for broadcasting detailed accounts of the police operations and plans right into the rooms occupied by the terrorists.

The filmmakers go out of their way to be even-handed, even including a statement from a German official that, if he had met him in a different situation, he would have liked Issa (the terrorist spokesman).

Jamal Al Gashey tells some very poignant tales, such as an ironic account of getting into the Olympic Village with the help of drunken American athletes who were out after curfew. The touching account of Al Gashey's of being exiled from his childhood village does much more to argue the Palestinian cause than any deadly terrorist scheme. It is unfortunate that he still hasn't realized that.

The film never strays from its focus, and by the end of the film you feel like you've watched the news for a day, glued to the TV screen hoping that the people will make it out alive.

What remains with the viewer is not only the deep sorrow of how one of the most peaceful world events has become deadly and filled with malice but also how incredibly contemporary those 30-year-old events still seem today.

This film sets a high standard and would be an excellent example of a well-executed documentary for students of that genre. Regrettably, it will only have a short run in the theater.