Heather Timmons went to England to visit
the set of Flight 93, director Paul Greengrass' treatment of the goings on aboard the one 9/11 plane that didn't hit
the hijacker's target. Unlike the more "Hollywoodized" World Trade Center that Oliver Stone is shooting with
Nicolas Cage in Los Angeles, Greengrass is making a concerted effort to shape 93 around empirical data, from cockpit
recordings and data regarding the plane's actual movements through the air, to character sketches provided by the
victims' families. Many of film's actors have studied videotapes of the passengers they portray, with the families
cooperating in the interest of telling a broader version of the story than the "Let's roll" narrative that
has dominated its telling. It seems like Greengrass is very much going for an almost scientifically indisputable
account of the flight, even though, as he admits to Timmons, "One of the reasons why Flight 93 exerts such a
powerful hold on our imaginations is precisely because we don't know exactly what happened." It's not hard to see
what kind of burden the film carries, as the first feature to attempt to dramatize the events to hit theaters.
Greengrass' investment in by-the-numbers recreation is, in a way, a statement of ideology – or, rather, a clear
declaration of intent to sidestep it. For, as NYU professor Marita Stucken tells Timmons, ""There is a pretty
big audience for that story, if - and this is crucial - if people perceive it to be sensitively told."
Categories
Heather Timmons went to England to visit
the set of Flight 93, director Paul Greengrass' treatment of the goings on aboard the one 9/11 plane that didn't hit
the hijacker's target. Unlike the more "Hollywoodized" World Trade Center that Oliver Stone is shooting with
Nicolas Cage in Los Angeles, Greengrass is making a concerted effort to shape 93 around empirical data, from cockpit
recordings and data regarding the plane's actual movements through the air, to character sketches provided by the
victims' families. Many of film's actors have studied videotapes of the passengers they portray, with the families
cooperating in the interest of telling a broader version of the story than the "Let's roll" narrative that
has dominated its telling. It seems like Greengrass is very much going for an almost scientifically indisputable
account of the flight, even though, as he admits to Timmons, "One of the reasons why Flight 93 exerts such a
powerful hold on our imaginations is precisely because we don't know exactly what happened." It's not hard to see
what kind of burden the film carries, as the first feature to attempt to dramatize the events to hit theaters.
Greengrass' investment in by-the-numbers recreation is, in a way, a statement of ideology – or, rather, a clear
declaration of intent to sidestep it. For, as NYU professor Marita Stucken tells Timmons, ""There is a pretty
big audience for that story, if - and this is crucial - if people perceive it to be sensitively told."
'Fone Finds
- The Best of Hot People Looking Hot in 2011 [NextMovie]
- The Top Five Super Bowl Halftime Shows [Urban Daily]
- The Most Pirated Movies of All Time [The Hollywood Reporter]
- The ‘Kindergarten Cop’ Kids: Where Are They Now? [Screen Junkies]
- 'SNL': Best & Worst Moments of 2011 [EW]
- The Worst Players Who Made the Most Money [Bleacher Report]
- The Best Reviewed Films of 2011 [Rotten Tomatoes]
- The Most Annoying Reality TV Stars of 2011 [HitFix]
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