United 93 film review

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UNITED 93

Without a doubt Paul Greengrass has produced a harrowing cinematic experience. United 93's writer and director has brought the same unnerving realism to the events of September 11, 2001 as he did to January 30, 1972 with Bloody Sunday, his film about the British Army's murder of 13 civilians in Derry, Ireland. Greengrass's past as a documentarian is evident in both works which feature a kinetic style and jerky, hand held footage.

While many criticized the film's timing, considering five years still too soon to revisit such a traumatic event, it's clear that whenever United 93 is shown, be it 20 years from now or a hundred, it will still resonate as powerfully. Being British made Greengrass a suitably objective observer, something that will no doubt be born out by Oliver Stone's upcoming film about September11. He makes no judgment about those involved preferring instead to defer as closely as possible to the best available evidence, though a closing disclaimer concedes to the film being a recreation.

Opening with the four terrorists making preparations in their hotel room, the film soon switches to real time as it details the fateful 91 minutes of United Flight 93 before it crashes in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The scenes on board the plane are intercut with the chaos at the air traffic control operations in Boston and New York and the military base of the Northeast Air Defense Sector as the magnitude of the attack unfolds. The tension increases throughout as the passengers hear news of the other attacks and realize their only hope is to try and overcome the hijackers.

Greengrass's determination to imbue the film with a palpable authenticity extends to his use of many key figures playing themselves, including Ben Sliney, the Federal Aviation Administration's national operations manager. The use of unknown actors and the deliberate ploy of not identifying characters combine to add to the patina of realism, but it also has a distancing effect, removing any true emotional investment in those involved. The only concession to sentiment is the numerous phonecalls from the doomed passengers to their loved ones once they realize what fate awaits them.