This weekend I'm hopefully going to be having a chat with the director of the new Russell Crowe movie 'State of Play'. I saw the press screening last week and was really impressed. I can't resist those journalist-as-detective movies.
The director is Kevin MacDonald and in preparation for meeting him I've been looking back at some of his previous work (I also watched the TV Series, 'State of Play' on which the film is based - really good). Most people know MacDonald for his powerful documentary 'Touching The Void' - the story of two mountain climbers and how they deal with disastrous circumstances - or the recent movie 'Last King of Scotland' with James McAvoy and Forest Whitaker.
I still think his best film is the 1999 documentary 'One Day In September', which one an Oscar. It's the incredibly moving account of the kidnap and murder of Israeli Olympians by Palestinian terrorists at the Munich Olympics. MacDonald adeptly tells both sides of the story, delivering a nuanced, complex film that stays with you for days.
'One Day In September' came along before the documentary boom and it stands up well against any of the films that have emerged in the last ten years. MacDonald uses music brilliantly, which he has done in all his films.
Definitely a filmmaker worth watching.
Fan trailer for the film:
Of course, the film 'Munich' was based on the same events:
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