Ten cinematic responses to 9/11

Ten cinematic responses to 9/11

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  25th Hour (2002)

  Directed by Spike Lee

  The message: Life – and movies – must go on amid the evidence of the devastation in this most resilient of cities.

  A young drug dealer (Edward Norton) has one final day of freedom before going to prison. Although based on a pre-9/11 novel, this was the first major film shot in New York after the attacks, and includes a scene shot in an apartment overlooking the twisted ruins of Ground Zero.
• A scene from 11'09''01 - SEPTEMBER 11 (episode #03 by Youssef Chahine)
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  11'09''01 September 11 (2002)

  Directed by Youssef Chahine, Amos Gitai, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Shôhei Imamura, Claude Lelouch, Ken Loach, Samira Makhmalbaf, Mira Nair, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Sean Penn and Danis Tanovic

  The message: The world of film needs to give an immediate response to this world-changing event – and an infinite number of artistic reactions are possible.

  The impact of the attacks is shown in a series of short films from different countries, characters and directors. Some are direct, others oblique, but all are deeply personal.
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  Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

  Directed by Michael Moore

  The message: Don’t believe everything you read – or everything the powers that be tell you. Oh, and ‘The Pet Goat’ is a seriously absorbing read.

  Fiery, self-aggrandising documentary-maker Moore points the finger at the Bush administration and the corporate media, analysing their response to the attacks and the subsequent invasion of Iraq.
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  World Trade Center (2006)

  Directed by Oliver Stone

  The message: Never give up on each other – and never give up hope.

  Two real-life Port Authority officers (Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena) are trapped under rubble following the terrorist attacks, while their frantic families await news of rescue attempts. Oliver Stone’s film was the first Hollywood drama to tackle the attacks directly – and although the director refrained from offering any of his usual conspiracy theories, the film was accused of rampant sentimentality.
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  United 93 (2006)

  Directed by Paul Greengrass

  The message: The bravery and self-sacrifice of the heroic few can sometimes be enough to save the many.

  The passengers of United flight 93 face the hijackers and foil the presumed suicide plot to crash in Washington DC. Greengrass’s remarkable film was shot documentary-style using unknown actors, and is widely regarded as the most truthful and hard-hitting depiction of the events on 9/11.
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  Reign Over Me (2007)

  Directed by Mike Binder

  The message: Remembering can be painful but ultimately healing.

  Adam Sandler plays a grieving husband and father who lost his family in the attacks. He forms an unlikely alliance with an old friend (Don Cheadle), and the two work towards finding some measure of solace. While Binder’s film is undoubtedly saccharine in parts, solid performances from the two leads means that it rarely feels exploitative.
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  Cloverfield (2008)

  Directed by Matt Reeves

  The message: Enemies can attack your city when you least expect it.

  When a six-legged sea-monster attacks New York, we follow a group of terrified young hipsters whose home video footage is found after the event. Reeves’s film consciously toys with the interplay between movies and national panic, setting his story up as a knowing counterpart to the original ‘Godzilla’, which was widely viewed as a response to Hiroshima.
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  Man on Wire (2008)

  Directed by James Marsh

  The message: The site of great triumphs can also be the site of great tragedies – and it’s important to remember both.

  A superb documentary charting ace French tightrope walker Philippe Petit’s glorious high-wire routine between the Twin Towers in 1974.
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  Remember Me (2010)

  Directed by Allen Coulter

  The message: Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

  *SPOILER ALERT*
  A rebellious, grieving youngster (Robert Pattinson) meets and falls for the beautiful Ally (Emilie de Ravin) in what turn out to be the days building up to 9/11. Again, sentiment overwhelms common sense in this occasionally moving but often saccharine doomed romance.
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  Margaret (2011)

  Directed by Kenneth Lonergan

  The message: There are no easy answers in a city that’s angry and desperate to find meaning in tragedy

  A post 9/11 New York high-schooler (Anna Paquin) becomes obsessed with apportioning blame and guilt after witnessing a fatal traffic accident. Lonergan’s long-delayed film (it was shot in 2006, but released in 2011) may be the most cogent and insightful American film to deal with the tragedy, exploring the countrywide sense of outrage and dismay after the attacks, and the confused, wayward reactions which inevitably followed.