DC 9/11 and Reflections from Ground Zero
"DC 9/11 - Time of Crisis" aspired to be a moving, inspiring story like HBO's critically acclaimed bio of Churchill in the 30s, "The Gathering Storm." However, for "DC 9/11" it looked like they didn't shoot a single frame of film in the actual Washington - all the exterior shots came from news reports and the interiors made C-SPAN's framing and art direction look interesting. It all looked very generic and a very pale shadow of the actual tragedy of the day. Timothy Bottoms looked liked W., and spoke better than the actual President, but his performance lacked the emotion and, dare I say, power of Bush. The real President engenders strong feelings, pro or con, while the Showtime President couldn't scare anyone. Plus, the whole movie had a very cheap and washed-out look to it - a comparison to the high-quality productions of HBO would be a brutal one.
Much more interesting was the slate of short movies on 9/11 which followed the feature. "Reflections from Ground Zero" presented nine short films from NYU students dealing with the impact of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York. "Twice a Day" by Kelly Atkins was particularly moving and managed to capture the sadness and loss of 9/11 in a very unique and creative way. But my favorite was "Unfurled" by Bryan Gunnar Cole. 9/11 is viewed from afar, and with the healing passage of time, as Cole shows us all the ways we Americans use the flag to express ourselves.
"DC 9/11 - Time of Crisis" aspired to be a moving, inspiring story like HBO's critically acclaimed bio of Churchill in the 30s, "The Gathering Storm." However, for "DC 9/11" it looked like they didn't shoot a single frame of film in the actual Washington - all the exterior shots came from news reports and the interiors made C-SPAN's framing and art direction look interesting. It all looked very generic and a very pale shadow of the actual tragedy of the day. Timothy Bottoms looked liked W., and spoke better than the actual President, but his performance lacked the emotion and, dare I say, power of Bush. The real President engenders strong feelings, pro or con, while the Showtime President couldn't scare anyone. Plus, the whole movie had a very cheap and washed-out look to it - a comparison to the high-quality productions of HBO would be a brutal one.
Much more interesting was the slate of short movies on 9/11 which followed the feature. "Reflections from Ground Zero" presented nine short films from NYU students dealing with the impact of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York. "Twice a Day" by Kelly Atkins was particularly moving and managed to capture the sadness and loss of 9/11 in a very unique and creative way. But my favorite was "Unfurled" by Bryan Gunnar Cole. 9/11 is viewed from afar, and with the healing passage of time, as Cole shows us all the ways we Americans use the flag to express ourselves.
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