United 93

Director: Paul Greengrass
Screenwriter: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Meghan Heffern, Khalid Abdalla, Omar Berdouni, Jamie Harding, Lewis Alsamari
Running time: 110 mins

The eyes of the world turned to the USA on September 11, 2001 when two aeroplanes were flown into the World Trade Centre and another into the Pentagon. United 93 tells the story of the fourth plane which was destined for Washington but was brought to the ground in Pennsylvania when heroic passengers fought back against their hijackers.

Shot in real time, the film begins with mundane actions of some of the passengers and crew before the board the aircraft, then switching to the points of view of air traffic controllers as the situation unfolds. This sets the scene well before the hijacking takes place, roughly an hour into the movie.

Although many people have been worried that it is too soon after the tragedy to make a film depicting the events, this view is principally based on the understanding that such a film would trade in exploititive entertainment. This is by no means the case with United 93, which always stays respectful to the subject matter and envokes a spectrum of emotion - seeing the complete strangers pull together to fight for their lives and the lives of others is an uplifting experience despite the tragedy.

Greengrass is laudably careful not to depict the terrorists as being evil, despicable as their actions undeniably are - they too show fear and one of them mirrors the victims in making a last phone call to tell someone "I love you". The attackers are humanised in a particularly effective scene in which they make an Islamic prayer for the success of what they see as a mission for their god, whilst Christian passengers recite the Lord's Prayer.

Although the fall of the twin towers will be a particularly emotional scene for American audiences it is the human drama onboard United 93 which will strike a universal chord. Especially effective are the scenes in which the victims call their families and partners ones with final messages of love and best wishes. The performances of the cast, practically all of them unknown actors, is marvellous; each of them studied extensively the victims they were portraying and spent time with their families in preparation.

Whilst it would be perverse to call this an enjoyable film to watch, it is certainly an important and harrowing effort from Paul Greengrass who has taken a touchy subject and afforded it taste.



Clips from the film: WMP, Realplayer, Quicktime
Trailer: WMP, Realplayer, Quicktime
Story featurette: WMP, Realplayer, Quicktime