102 Minutes That Changed America

news.nationalgeographic.com

We've all seen footage of 9/11 and we've all probably seen it more than once. We've all been shocked at the images of the buildings, the second explosion, of the extensive fire and smoke on the upper floors, the falling debris and the collapse of the towers. In this documentary, it isn't just the same images you've already seen. It pieces together the story of the people, using their own footage from personal camcorders from all around the city. What touched me more than the images of the towers, was seeing the reaction of the everyday New Yorkers.

The film was produced by the History Channel and first broadcast commerical-free on the 7th anniversary of 9/11 in 2008. It is now a historical record of the minutes that took New York by surprise.

thetimes.co.uk

In the film we have access to footage of businessmen stopping in their tracks as they walk through Time Square and see the images on the screens, we see the devastation in their eyes and watch as a middle-aged lady struggles to run from the falling debris, crying in fear. It is angle we have not seen before and it shook me to the core. The worst for me was when the second plane hit the second tower, filmed from the NE side of town. Two girls are filming the first building from their apartment whilst on the phone to their mother and the second plane hits. The camera pans to the left to show the remainder of the blast as the engine fuel explodes and all we hear are the shrill screams of the girls as they cannot take in what has just happened. It is the sound of that genuine fear, the screams that really got me.

nerdylorin.net

Another powerful reaction is filmed from the NW side of town, in an apartment with a couple and their child. The mother has told her child to go to bed so she doesn't see whatever happens next and when her mother screams, she calls from her bedroom crying. Her mother makes up a lie about 'daddy deleting the tape on the camcorder' but quietly so her daughter cannot hear her, she cries. It's heartbreaking. 

It is incredible, the power of an entire city, stood still, simply watching, trying to compute what has happened. To watch so many, caught unaware on what began as a normal day. The footage we see shows the scenes from every angle and from in amongst the people who themselves are trying to figure out what has happened. We hear immediate reactions, see an outburst of violence, we hear anger, we see fear. We are shown what seems like every human emotion within the film's 102 minutes.

nationalgeographic.com

We see hundreds of people as they flee the city, we see residents of apartments crowding into lifts and sharing what they know, we hear people calling relatives, we see exhausted firemen arriving from all around New York to fight the fire, ambulances helping the injured, policeman recalled from their homes to help and watch as cars are left abandoned as the streets empty and become covered in dust and rubble.

thomasefranklin.com

The storytelling was brilliantly selected but the logistics of piecing together such a collage of personal accounts, video recordings, radio broadcasts, news reports, emergency radio communications...is one to marvel at, and edited together cleverly. The production keeps account of the scene down to the very second it unfolded as though we too are a part of the New York community shocked by what they see before them. I have never before been hit so hard by images of 9/11 and never before been touched by both the fear and anger and the courage and compassion of those who witnessed it. It was fantastically edited together by Seth Skundrick as it seamlessly moves from account to account, with recordings overlapping and phone calls and radio communications providing the reaction when the images are silent. Skundrick's work was recognised with Emmy awards to match. We cannot compliment the camera operators personaly but have to thank the American people who thought to record what has become a prominent moment in American History.

I can't say it's a documentary that I enjoyed, as I spent the majority of the first half in tears, but it is certainly an example for programming that follows similar events. A poignant film and one that is a must-watch if ever you wish to truly understand the impact that 9/11 had on everyday Americans and why the words of a US news reporter have never been so accurate 'It is the 9th September and you will not forget this day'.