‘September 5’ Star Peter Saargaard Shares Opinion on Film’s Lack of Success

September 5 was one of the best thrillers released in 2024, but not many people saw it. Starring Peter Sarsgaard and Ben Chaplin, September 5 was a superb movie that, at just 94 minutes, managed to make an impact like few historical films do. The problem is that it wasn’t a very popular movie, something Sarsgaard attributes to its highly controversial subject.

The film was a gripping thriller that portrayed the events of the Munich massacre, in which a Palestinian militant organization killed a group of Israeli athletes during the Summer Olympics of 1972. It follows the reporters at the ABC Sports station who took it upon themselves to broadcast the live images of the hostage situation.

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The ABC Sports production team captures the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage crisis live as it happens.

Sarsgaard was at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where he received an honorary award. The star of Presumed Innocent and Jarhead talked about his extensive career, and a few projects he has ahead, including the Apple TV+ adaptation of Neuromancer, and the Warner Bros. project known as The Bride! It was at the event that Sarsgaard talked to Deadline and addressed the criminally underrated September 5, a film that he says is not only about terrorism but about journalism as well:

“I think it was controversial, considering what’s going on in Israel. What was interesting about that film is, I had people who were on both sides of that war come up to me and say, ‘I have problems with the film,’ and I’ve had people who are on both sides of that situation come up to me and say that they thought the film was great.

“To me, that film was just about journalism. It was about the beginning of 24/7 news coverage, and it asks, ‘Is seeing something in real time, without having any perspective on it, the truth?’ I mean, is it better to take 24 hours to fully understand something versus following it second by second? Where you point the camera, you’ve made a decision already. It’s already subjective. This idea that a live camera is the truth I don’t think is… It’s certainly not the full truth.

“So… I don’t know. To me, it exceeded its expectations. When I went to go make that movie, if somebody had told me that it would’ve been nominated for any awards, I would’ve been very surprised.”

‘September 5’ Flew Under the Radar at the Oscars

Peter Sarsgaard is referring to the single nomination September 5 was recognized with at the Academy Awards. While Sean Baker’s Anora came out the winner in the category of Best Original Screenplay, September 5 stood out as a potential contender because it was based on a true story (this always scores points with Academy members). Sarsgaard also shared his candid opinion on why September 5 didn’t have a stronger presence on the awards circuit:

“It was made for nothing. It had no money behind it. Awards are about money. Look, if you’re on a big movie, that’s a lot of voters that are just on your movie set that are going to vote for your movie, right? Or if your director has been nominated for 15 Academy Awards, chances are he will be nominated, the film will be nominated, and all the actors will be nominated. The awards are no litmus test of anything other than a certain degree of quality and popularity.”

Source: Deadline

September 5

5
/5

Release Date

November 29, 2024

Runtime

91 Minutes

Director

Tim Fehlbaum

Writers

Tim Fehlbaum, Moritz Binder

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