Our Take:
Like every
American, I vividly remember my 9/11/01. Seeing CNN footage of the
first burning tower on television at my new part-time job, in a
cafeteria at Universal Studios theme park decorated with Dr. Seuss
characters, and not grasping the catastrophe that was starting. I
didn't grasp, and it wasn't mentioned, that it was a 747. I also
wasn't familiar with just how big those buildings were, so I made an
assumption about flight plans and figured a prop plane, at most a
small commuter jet, had collided with the building. Hearing news
about a second plane while training for my new job. Finally being
told the park would be closing, an unprecedented decision of caution,
at noon so we could all head home. Going first to the television to
see the churn of rerun footage while newscasters tried to grasp the
events. Towers constantly, repeatedly falling. Jumping online to the
now archaic message board where all my dear college friends touched
base and worried about Ali getting home to Jersey, and Liz's cousins
based in the same area of Manhattan. The growing dread of knowing
profound change is happening, the future is uncertain (and moving to a
tourism based economy the month prior was, in retrospect, a bad
idea). My story of that day is small. My mundane details seared
into memory by large, tragic world events. These documentaries share
the big stories.
The first of this pair of Smithsonian
Channel documentaries is 9/11: Day That Changed The World.
Starting at 6AM and ending at
Midnight, it reconstructs the day through archival video, radio
transmissions, narration by Martin Sheen, and interviews with people
caught up in the events. The morning's normalcy is mentioned then
quickly dispensed with, perhaps since living memory is far too
powerful to accommodate such minutia. The fast, inexorable march of
history is captured here in a way we rarely get to see. Genuine and
confused reactions of witnesses remind us what the expression
“dawning realization” really means. From President Bush
processing information while gallantly trying to not upset
schoolchildren to the many uplifted faces on shocked pedestrians,
hands covering their mouths in shock, video captures immediate
emotional impacts. Revisiting the footage, including some I've
strenuously spent a decade avoiding of people falling from the
burning buildings, I became so caught up I clapped a hand over my own
gasp. (I've also never watched United 93,
and never plan to.)
What's so strongly illustrated here is
that in-the-moment tumble of actions taken while not knowing what
will unfold. The fear of the unpredictable becomes a concern closed
and set aside after events. During them, however, it is a terrifying
thing. That visceral tension makes the first half of this
surprisingly difficult viewing. Focusing on one day, and not
everything since, makes for some powerful storytelling.
The second presentation, 9/11:
Stories in Fragments is a more
narrowly focused on aftermath and “the debris left behind,” now
in the Smithsonian's collection. The museum seized the moment in
history and immediately started collecting artifacts and learning the
stories behind them.
Here
are presented ID cards, fragments of plane, wall clocks; stuff
extracted from the rubble. Nametags from the Pentagon dead. A
stewardess call button from Flight 93. Also here are people telling
their stories regarding the items they donated. Ted Olson's office
phone on which he received the his wife Barbara's last phone call
from Flight 77. Matthew Farley desperately texting coworkers still
inside the building from his donated Blackberry on the street below.
The abandoned briefcase returned to Lisa Lefler after she followed
her gut and evacuated the Tower she never imagined would collapse,
now battered and dusty (and one of the few object to survive the
collapse intact).
Fire
Chief Joseph Pfeifer and Documentarian Jules Naudet never expected to
wander into history while out checking on an simple gas leak near the
site. They saved lives and captured Ground Zero footage (when Naudet's
9/11 screened I was
surprised when they entered the lobby, as it was my first-ever view
of the inside of these buildings). Thoughtful interviews entwine with
breathlessly-paced narration, making for a compelling, respectful
accounting of the fateful day's events. From this humane perspective,
these innocuous objects become powerful relics.
Official Synopsis:
Defining moments. Untold stories.
Four airplanes. Nearly three-thousand
victims. One unimaginable tragedy. The terrible events of September
11, 2001 will never be forgotten. Two original documentaries
commemorate the most significant and tragic day in modern American
history.
9/11: Day That Changed The World
Intimate accounts from the leaders on
that fateful day reveal how our nation's key decision makers
responded to a crisis that was beyond the scope of anyone's
experience. Featuring interviews with Rudy Giuliani, Donald Rumsfeld,
Dick Cheney, Laura Bush and more.
9/11: Stories in Fragments
How do you grasp an event as enormous
as September 11? At the Smithsonian's National Museum of American
History, you start small: a briefcase, a Blackberry, a hero's
nametag. These tragic treasures and personal stories reveal the
extraordinary power of ordinary objects.
Special Features:
Presented in widescreen with Dolby
Digital Stereo sound, but there are no other extras on this disc. The
first documentary is 91 minutes long, the second is 46.
Conclusion:
The Smithsonian Channel's vivid and
detailed 9/11: Day That Changed The World
is an immediate, effective recounting of the day's unfolding, one
that may be unpleasant viewing for many. 9/11: Stories in
Fragments is a strong companion
piece, focusing in on individual stories that illuminate the bigger
picture.
Overall Picture:
Movie: A, A-
Extras: F
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