Scan and Pan
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
United 93
The film recounts the events leading up to the hijacking of United 93 on 9/11 to the moment when the jet crashes into the ground as a result of the actions of its passengers, who are determined to prevent the jet from being used as a weapon.
There are many ways to tell a story like this, but writer/director Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday, The Bourne Supremacy) approaches it as if he is a documentary filmmaker recording each second of history as it unfolds before his eyes. Some creative license has to be taken to fill in the gaps about what happened on board the jet, but it doesn't employ a traditional Hollywood narrative where one to a few characters are brought into sharp focus for the audience to identify with. In fact, there aren't characters as much as people you're observing in a moment of crisis.
As he did so brilliantly in Bloody Sunday, Greengrass injects his audience directly into the chaos. Using handheld cameras and a high degree of improvisation by the actors, the effect on the viewer is one of being a participant rather than a mere witness. It takes awhile to come down from the feeling of trauma you're left with when the end credits roll. Contributing to that is the prescience that pervades every second, every frame, as the events inexorably unfold virtually in real time. You know what's going to happen, but you can't look away no matter how much you want to.
Bloody Sunday had a raw, nearly monochromatic look, but here cinematographer Barry Ackroyd (The Wind That Shakes the Barley) employs brighter colors and polished lighting without sacrificing the documentary feel. The subtle score by John Powell (The Bourne Supremacy, X-Men: The Last Stand) is organically bonded to the action in such a way that you probably won't notice it because you'll be caught up in the story, but it's still an essential part of the film.
The cast is a mixture of professional actors and non-actors. The non-actors are especially used for the flight crew, air traffic controllers, and military personnel to lend an authenticity to their actions that professional actors could never duplicate. Some participants in the real-life events play themselves. I can't single out any performers because they're uniformly excellent. If I could only choose one thing to praise director Greengrass for, it would be his ability to get strong performances from his entire cast, professionals and non-actors alike.
United 93 is one of the best films of 2006 and highly recommended. Despite the controversy over whether it was made too soon after the events, it's essential viewing and a moving memorial to the men and women who died on the flight.
This 2006 docudrama remarkably captures the chaos and horror of 9/11 without resorting to sensationalism or a conventional narrative.
The film recounts the events leading up to the hijacking of United 93 on 9/11 to the moment when the jet crashes into the ground as a result of the actions of its passengers, who are determined to prevent the jet from being used as a weapon.
There are many ways to tell a story like this, but writer/director Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday, The Bourne Supremacy) approaches it as if he is a documentary filmmaker recording each second of history as it unfolds before his eyes. Some creative license has to be taken to fill in the gaps about what happened on board the jet, but it doesn't employ a traditional Hollywood narrative where one to a few characters are brought into sharp focus for the audience to identify with. In fact, there aren't characters as much as people you're observing in a moment of crisis.
As he did so brilliantly in Bloody Sunday, Greengrass injects his audience directly into the chaos. Using handheld cameras and a high degree of improvisation by the actors, the effect on the viewer is one of being a participant rather than a mere witness. It takes awhile to come down from the feeling of trauma you're left with when the end credits roll. Contributing to that is the prescience that pervades every second, every frame, as the events inexorably unfold virtually in real time. You know what's going to happen, but you can't look away no matter how much you want to.
Bloody Sunday had a raw, nearly monochromatic look, but here cinematographer Barry Ackroyd (The Wind That Shakes the Barley) employs brighter colors and polished lighting without sacrificing the documentary feel. The subtle score by John Powell (The Bourne Supremacy, X-Men: The Last Stand) is organically bonded to the action in such a way that you probably won't notice it because you'll be caught up in the story, but it's still an essential part of the film.
The cast is a mixture of professional actors and non-actors. The non-actors are especially used for the flight crew, air traffic controllers, and military personnel to lend an authenticity to their actions that professional actors could never duplicate. Some participants in the real-life events play themselves. I can't single out any performers because they're uniformly excellent. If I could only choose one thing to praise director Greengrass for, it would be his ability to get strong performances from his entire cast, professionals and non-actors alike.
United 93 is one of the best films of 2006 and highly recommended. Despite the controversy over whether it was made too soon after the events, it's essential viewing and a moving memorial to the men and women who died on the flight.
Comments:
Post a Comment
