There’s a sense that with the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001 it would be of very bad taste to say anything even remotely negative or critical. There’s also the sense that such a national tragedy could not possibly be emotionally manipulative, and yet I wonder if “9/11” crosses the line ever so slightly.
Let me preface this review by saying that “9/11,” a documentary shot the day of the attacks in New York, has its impressive moments and a worthy place in history. What’s more, this film sets out to commemorate the efforts of the firefighters who lost their lives that day trying to save others and honors them in spades.
Two amateur French filmmakers, Jules and Gedeon Naudet, direct the documentary, and they were lucky enough, or unlucky enough more accurately, to be in New York on 9/11 as they were filming another documentary about a young probationary firefighter. Their story changed dramatically in the course of filming, as is typical of many great documentaries.
And their made for TV documentary includes the only known footage of a plane hitting the first tower, and further the only known footage from inside the tower as it was burning, under attack and collapsing.
This is remarkable yes, and many news outlets used this exact footage when compiling their coverage of the terrorist attacks.
The difference I’d like to point out is that much of the footage is remarkable merely because it exists. Errol Morris was not the documentarian trapped amidst all the rubble and chaos, and it shows. The footage, about all of it captured on low quality handheld cams, is about as great as an amateur filmmaker could hope for. Continue reading “9/11 (Documentary)”