2 of 3

Crew and passengers charge the cockpit to reclaim the plane from the hijackers

The other passengers are treated as a group, more than as individuals; Greengrass is more interested in the social dynamics aboard that plane than he is in any single person, and besides, until the plane is hijacked, the passengers are almost all strangers to one another anyway. It's not even clear which of the passengers is Todd Beamer; when the phrase "Let's roll"—spoken by Beamer, a Christian—is finally uttered, the camera is not looking at anyone in particular, but down the aisle that the passengers are about to rush. Nevertheless, individual persons do stand out. A flight attendant tries in vain to sound reassuring even when things are going very wrong; a doctor tries to attend to a wounded passenger but is forced back into her seat; and an appeaser insists right to the end that they should not fight back because the terrorists will merely hold them for ransom and then let them go. (This passenger speaks with a German accent, so he may or may not represent European opposition to the "war on terror.")

Likewise, the situation on the ground. Greengrass captures the shock and confusion among the military officers and air traffic controllers (several of whom play themselves) as the hijackings multiply, the buildings are destroyed, and the various federal bodies fail utterly to communicate with each other. And while a few faces stand out, it is the broader changes in mood that matter here. Some of the authorities take the first hijacking in their stride, chuckling that hijackings are so costly and old-fashioned; but then things get very serious, and they slowly realize that they are witnessing nothing less than an act of war.

The film does not shy away from the religious dimensions of that fateful day. From the very first scene to the very last, the terrorists pray; and if the passengers don't have much reason to pray until the last section of the movie, the film does hint at the religiosity of the culture from which they come, and foreshadow their own prayers, by noting a "God bless America" sign by the side of the road as the terrorists make their way to the airport.

Jean and Donald Peterson (played by Becky London and Tom O'Rourke) comfort one another

The film is very intense, and it may be too much for some people, especially if they see it in a crowded theatre, and especially if they see it in certain cities. Some people have asked if anybody needs to see this movie. To that, the simple answer is: As with all movies, some do, and some don't. The more important question, and it's a rather different one, is whether this movie needed to be made. And the short answer to that is: Absolutely, yes, it did.

For better or worse, things and people often seem more real to us when they become the subject of a movie, and films are one of the primary means by which we collectively process the world around us. So it would be strange indeed if filmmakers continued to ignore the most pivotal moment in recent history. A portion of this film's revenues will be donated to the Flight 93 memorial fund, and in a way, the film—produced with the support of the victims' families—is itself a memorial of sorts. It honors the passengers who fought back by visualizing their experience and imprinting it on our screens for years to come.

1. Do you find that the film encourages you to identify with anybody? If so, who? How does identifying with those characters affect how you respond to the events of September 11?
   
   
2. How does this film portray religious faith? Should it have emphasized the religious aspects of the story more? Less? What is the significance of the sequence which cross-cuts between the prayers of the passengers and the prayers of the terrorists?
   
   
3. How do you think you might have reacted if you were a passenger on that plane? How might your faith have played a role in your decisions and actions?
   
   
4. Is it too soon to make this movie? Should it have been made sooner? Do you think the movie brings healing or closure, or does it re-open old wounds? How should movies, as a social and collective artform, reflect or balance the different psychological needs of individual audience members?
   
   

next page... |  2 of 3