UNITED 93
May 1, 2006
I have these movie passes from a while back. When you belong to ACTRA (the Canadian performers union for film and TV) you get discounts on movie passes..they're like 6 to 9 dollars each...but now that Cineplex has bought out Famous Players, who knows what kind of deals we'll be eligible for now. Anyway, I had these passes and they expired on March 31, 2006. But when I went to the cinema I was told there was a 30 day grace period. So, here I was trying to watch a bunch of movies in the last few days.
I ended up going to the Carlton with my friend John to see a new Canadian flick, WHOLE NEW THING and I got John's ticket so that was two passes right there. WNT was pretty OK. Nothing bad about it but nothing great either. Just fine whatever bland Anglo cinema as per usual.
But then the other day I decided to go see UNITED 93 at the Varsity and what an experience that was. It was a full circle moment. I had learned about the World Trade Centre attacks the morning of September 11 and had gotten on my bike to cycle to the Varsity that morning for a Toronto film festival screening. I wasn't sad or upset or terrified. I didn't or couldn't put a human face to what was happening. All I could think about was that the American government had brought all this on themselves; that bad things happen all the time, all over the world and this bad thing was happening to them. Maybe this was as cold a response as one could imagine. But it wasn't about individuals at that particular moment. It was about the entity that was BUSH-LAND, AMERICA.
I got to the Varsity that morning and everyone was talking about it. I may have even been annoyed by this. Like a "yeah yeah yeah, America's under attack...why can't we talk about ourselves for a change!". I went into the screening (I seem to recall it being a very boring Scandinavian comedy) and a woman from the Film Festival came out to introduce the film and she started talking about how upsetting everything was and that the Film Festival was deciding what their official response was going to be and then a voice or two from the back of the theatre called out "What are you talking about?". Screenings had begun at the Varsity at 8:30 that morning. Some people in my screening hadn't heard about the attacks yet.
The film fest woman sort of paused and said finally into the microphone "Oh my goodness, you don't know" or something to that effect. It was a bit TV movie melodramatic. I don't think I am such a cynic, so cold, you know? I don't want to come off sounding like such a harsh, negative asshole. I am just saying things that maybe some people wouldn't say out loud. The woman from the festival (I hate to say it) seemed to be acting a bit. Is that how I would describe it? It was interesting to try and put myself in her shoes. Here is a devastating piece of news. She has an enormous amount of power or influence at that moment. She gets to tell some people about what has happened in the USA. How would you tell it? Would you just say it non-chalantly? Maybe she felt in order to display the gravity of the situation she had to relay the news in a somewhat quiet intense fashion. But it was put on a bit. And it bugged me. I don't know how I would have done it. Maybe exactly the same. And maybe there would be some small part of me that would enjoy being the bearer of such jarring information. Like when you're happy to get to tell a friend who is not in the know that so-and-so are breaking up. And you get to see that virgin reaction to such shocking news. There is something sick there. Something thrilling and sick. But I think it's true. The bearer of bad news is powerful if only for a moment in time.
So she delivered the news. Several people rushed out of the theatre as she spoke. It was the first moment I felt a human connection to what was happening...as I imagined one of the film-goers having a spouse or children in Manhattan, being told this horrifying news in a dark cinema in Toronto at ten in the morning. Ugh.
And so we sat, the ones who remained, and watched this lame-ass movie that was trying to be cute and just wasn't achieving it's goal. And who wants to see a cute movie anyway?
Cut to April 28, 2006. Four and a half years after that day, I am back at the Varsity to watch UNITED 93, a film by Brit Paul Greengrass that details the events of September 11, 2001 with such incredible detail but focuses it's story around the fourth hijacked plane which was the only plane to not reach it's target, believed to be The Washington Capitol.
It is a gripping film. It had me from the first frame. I am torn too you know? I have a lot of suspicion of the United States. I have a lot of suspicion about this movie. As great as it is, as thrilling and really terrifying as it is, I can't help but ask: how much of this is really just propaganda? How much of what we see in this film actually happened? Will we ever know? In a country that still doesn't really know who killed one of it's finest president's, how can we think that we will ever know what role George Bush and his henchmen had in Sept 11? How can we know if the plane was actually shot down? Did the passengers intend an uprising but never really achieve their goal? Was the plane already nosediving when they stormed the cockpit or did the storm cause the hijackers to abandon their cause? I don't know. I know that much of the American people need that heroic story. They need heroes and heroines to rise from the ashes of 9/11. But I find that I can't fully believe anything surrounding the whole series of events because how do you believe anything when it is filtered through a government who consistently lies and destroys human life?
It's tough. I loved the movie. It was moving and intense and very upsetting. And incredibly well made. I mean it is quite an achievement. But the way I am watching it and the way most Americans will watch that movie, those will be two totally different experiences. And rightfully so.
I recommend the movie, absolutely. But I also think it is vital to continue to ask questions. It is so important to not just be fed the news and the "facts" and accept everything you hear and read. It's been a rude awakening, growing older and realizing that the elders of the world (at least the ones that are running everything) don't actually have our best interest in mind. They don't know better. They are not teachers. That's been a hard pill to swallow.
I have these movie passes from a while back. When you belong to ACTRA (the Canadian performers union for film and TV) you get discounts on movie passes..they're like 6 to 9 dollars each...but now that Cineplex has bought out Famous Players, who knows what kind of deals we'll be eligible for now. Anyway, I had these passes and they expired on March 31, 2006. But when I went to the cinema I was told there was a 30 day grace period. So, here I was trying to watch a bunch of movies in the last few days.
I ended up going to the Carlton with my friend John to see a new Canadian flick, WHOLE NEW THING and I got John's ticket so that was two passes right there. WNT was pretty OK. Nothing bad about it but nothing great either. Just fine whatever bland Anglo cinema as per usual.
But then the other day I decided to go see UNITED 93 at the Varsity and what an experience that was. It was a full circle moment. I had learned about the World Trade Centre attacks the morning of September 11 and had gotten on my bike to cycle to the Varsity that morning for a Toronto film festival screening. I wasn't sad or upset or terrified. I didn't or couldn't put a human face to what was happening. All I could think about was that the American government had brought all this on themselves; that bad things happen all the time, all over the world and this bad thing was happening to them. Maybe this was as cold a response as one could imagine. But it wasn't about individuals at that particular moment. It was about the entity that was BUSH-LAND, AMERICA.
I got to the Varsity that morning and everyone was talking about it. I may have even been annoyed by this. Like a "yeah yeah yeah, America's under attack...why can't we talk about ourselves for a change!". I went into the screening (I seem to recall it being a very boring Scandinavian comedy) and a woman from the Film Festival came out to introduce the film and she started talking about how upsetting everything was and that the Film Festival was deciding what their official response was going to be and then a voice or two from the back of the theatre called out "What are you talking about?". Screenings had begun at the Varsity at 8:30 that morning. Some people in my screening hadn't heard about the attacks yet.
The film fest woman sort of paused and said finally into the microphone "Oh my goodness, you don't know" or something to that effect. It was a bit TV movie melodramatic. I don't think I am such a cynic, so cold, you know? I don't want to come off sounding like such a harsh, negative asshole. I am just saying things that maybe some people wouldn't say out loud. The woman from the festival (I hate to say it) seemed to be acting a bit. Is that how I would describe it? It was interesting to try and put myself in her shoes. Here is a devastating piece of news. She has an enormous amount of power or influence at that moment. She gets to tell some people about what has happened in the USA. How would you tell it? Would you just say it non-chalantly? Maybe she felt in order to display the gravity of the situation she had to relay the news in a somewhat quiet intense fashion. But it was put on a bit. And it bugged me. I don't know how I would have done it. Maybe exactly the same. And maybe there would be some small part of me that would enjoy being the bearer of such jarring information. Like when you're happy to get to tell a friend who is not in the know that so-and-so are breaking up. And you get to see that virgin reaction to such shocking news. There is something sick there. Something thrilling and sick. But I think it's true. The bearer of bad news is powerful if only for a moment in time.
So she delivered the news. Several people rushed out of the theatre as she spoke. It was the first moment I felt a human connection to what was happening...as I imagined one of the film-goers having a spouse or children in Manhattan, being told this horrifying news in a dark cinema in Toronto at ten in the morning. Ugh.
And so we sat, the ones who remained, and watched this lame-ass movie that was trying to be cute and just wasn't achieving it's goal. And who wants to see a cute movie anyway?
Cut to April 28, 2006. Four and a half years after that day, I am back at the Varsity to watch UNITED 93, a film by Brit Paul Greengrass that details the events of September 11, 2001 with such incredible detail but focuses it's story around the fourth hijacked plane which was the only plane to not reach it's target, believed to be The Washington Capitol.
It is a gripping film. It had me from the first frame. I am torn too you know? I have a lot of suspicion of the United States. I have a lot of suspicion about this movie. As great as it is, as thrilling and really terrifying as it is, I can't help but ask: how much of this is really just propaganda? How much of what we see in this film actually happened? Will we ever know? In a country that still doesn't really know who killed one of it's finest president's, how can we think that we will ever know what role George Bush and his henchmen had in Sept 11? How can we know if the plane was actually shot down? Did the passengers intend an uprising but never really achieve their goal? Was the plane already nosediving when they stormed the cockpit or did the storm cause the hijackers to abandon their cause? I don't know. I know that much of the American people need that heroic story. They need heroes and heroines to rise from the ashes of 9/11. But I find that I can't fully believe anything surrounding the whole series of events because how do you believe anything when it is filtered through a government who consistently lies and destroys human life?
It's tough. I loved the movie. It was moving and intense and very upsetting. And incredibly well made. I mean it is quite an achievement. But the way I am watching it and the way most Americans will watch that movie, those will be two totally different experiences. And rightfully so.
I recommend the movie, absolutely. But I also think it is vital to continue to ask questions. It is so important to not just be fed the news and the "facts" and accept everything you hear and read. It's been a rude awakening, growing older and realizing that the elders of the world (at least the ones that are running everything) don't actually have our best interest in mind. They don't know better. They are not teachers. That's been a hard pill to swallow.
posted by film nerd at 7:58 PM
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