United 93

A film that will shake you, upset you and possibly allow you to embrace the cold reality of the modern day and the War on Terror, "United 93" redefines for me the idea of film and can be said to be one of the best films I feel I've watched, though the tag 'historical re-enaction' would probably befit it more.

Taking up the events of the aforementioned flight, "93" shows the audience what could, and what had likely happened onboard the fourth hijacked plane that day. The hijackers more than met their match with a group of people who eventually reached deep inside to summon that which makes us human; a desire to survive.

I recognised one actor within the whole film, and that is how it should be with such contentious historical depictions. World Trade Center was, quite frankly, ruined by casting famous stars in it, and the lack of them here gives the film a more human and, dare I say it, more realistic feel. These are people that could easily be your fellow passengers on a plane, none of them are Nicholas Cage or Maria Bello (as in "World Trade Center", the sensational and Hollywood-ised piece of crap about the same day's events). The actors are fantastic here, no more needs to be said.

The hijackers were very well portrayed, with the air of tension and anticipation perfectly reflected in their behaviour leading up to the taking of the plane. A special mention must go to the head of air traffic control in control that day Ben Sliney, who plays himself on that day, providing an amazing link between the real events and the film depiction. There aren't really any women within the film's narrative that stood out, but as with the majority of the male actors, they provide a realistic and at times uncomfortable performance of the last hours of the flight's female passengers.

Paul Greengrass proves that he is criminally underrated as a director here. Though the Bourne films have brought him to international attention, United 93 should be remembered as his best (or one of his best) films. He sensitively and carefully reconstructs the events and presents them as near as he could to their real counterparts, with great success.

The plane and air traffic control scenes are proficiently presented by
Greengrass, whose documentary and historical reimagining backgrounds
are drawn from to great effect here. The dialogue, at times, is
harrowing to listen to, particularly in the case of the final calls to
relatives before the passengers fight back, as it is likely that much
of what we see here is what was said. I found this to be a real strength of the film, because much of what is said could be seen (particularly in the calls from plane to ground and at the air control centre) is likely to have been near to or exactly what would have been said. The collective shock that all people felt on seeing what happened is encapsulated perfectly in the astonishment of the characters; not hard considering how the actors themselves would likely have felt at the time.

No music was used (in my recollection) until the conclusion, and what is used is appropriate to the subject matter. Greengrass does employ the hand-held cameras rather a lot in his films, and in particular here it does (as in the Bourne films he directed) take you out of the action due to the sheer incomprehensibility of the images. However, his use of archive footage of the WTC attacks, as well as the plane visuals (on board and at the crash) not only achieve an eerie naturalism but also draw the viewer in to the horror of Flight 93.

Making a film about such an event does cause problems; the controversy surrounding the making of the film can tell you that much. But watching it did leave me, a young Brit, profoundly moved and pretty shocked, so I cannot imagine how it would go down with American viewers, particularly those who were perhaps in New York or Washington or were directly affected. The last twenty minutes are very hard to watch from anyone's point of view, but through the violence and tension, hope is found through the passenger's reactions to their capture, and this does chip away at the horror felt afterward.

This film brings the power of the medium straight home. We will never
know what really happened on that plane, but United 93 goes a long way
to showing what could have, and reminds us through a visual
presentation of the plane's events on September 11th that through the
great evil and horror that has prevailed since that day seven years
ago, hope, heroism and humanity can shine through even the darkest
times.

10/10