OrochiLeona’s review published on Letterboxd:
Fine documentary, that does what it sets out to do without too much pomp or fanfare.
Covering the events of the 1972 Munich Massacre, where Palestinian nationalists held a doomed siege at the Olympic Games, One Day in September gives a detailed account of the tragic events that led to the deaths of 17 people.
Narrated by the grim tone of Michael Douglas, One Day tells the story of the days events in chronological fashion, with insights provided by the wives of some of the murdered athletes (who present themselves with total diginity) and various Police officials from the time, as well as scoring an interview with the one remaining Nationalist who took part in the siege.
One Day is a TV style documentary, full of newsreel footage and photographs that cover the hour by hour breakdown of events, however, very little to no time is spent on the politics behind the attack, nor the aftermath.
The film is well balanced, but occasionally falls into distasteful sensationlism.
But besides those few moments, it remains a grim but fascinating look into a dark hour of political history as well as asking important questions as to how it all ended so badly.