United 93

This is a film by Paul Greengrass of the final hours of flight United 93, which went down in a field en route to Washington on September 11. It is thought that the plane’s target was the White House and that the brave actions of the passengers prevented the terrorist hi-jackers from reaching their goal. The story is told without any dramatisation or back-story, entirely as a fly-on-the-wall documentary. This approach is very effective at capturing the confusion of the time. The realism extends to using the actual people involved on the ground to re-enact their roles, notably, Ben Sliney, the man in charge of the FAA national center. This is a very intense film and some people will find it hard to watch. Whilst there is no dramatisation, we are not spared any detail of the actual events. A worthy document of these sad events and one that is respectful of the memory of the victims. United 93 was screened as part of the Sydney Film Festival.