‘World Trade Center’: Movie Review
A harrowing picture that never shames itself for exploring
The 2006 movie World Trade Center, an early and very close-up piece of one of the most disastrous moments in recorded history, begins with silence. And out of nowhere, as you expected, disaster. Gradually puzzled, one by one. But although director Oliver Stone aims for a slow reveal, the result speeds a bit, which is never a bad thing. The result is precision, and as Stone gleefully realizes this, he makes the rest of the biopic script consistent with this pace.
At times, it’s very hard for a period piece to really makes the (genuine) viewers immersed in its content, and WTC is in that rare area. Although everyone in the project knows this is a movie, it never seeks to dramatize what happened, as amateur phone recordings of the collapses themselves are traumatizing. They — especially the cinematographer and visual effects producer — perfectly aim for authenticity. Every single scene feels like a human eye watching the scene happen, and it felt so close.
But despite the clear narrative — these brave men are stuck in the heavy debris of Tower 2 and are waiting for help — it’s these moments outside of the debris that further shines the movie. As I watch the movie further, it felt like a meta-movie: Stone is trying to show audiences what happened in the aftermath of the collapses, in a very intimate way. Focusing on families, the human condition, the streets, how society runs. All of it felt different than normal, and while it is familiar if you’ve watched footages or documentaries, it’s that familiarity that further amplifies me enjoying WTC. It’s not monochromatic nor saturated. It’s ambient — whatever you define that word as.
Now, normally, a perfect story is not without error, and in this case, the errors are erroneous. Sometimes, I can imagine Stone writing the script and hitting writer’s block — some scenes felt inconsistent with a mental goal, which every scene in this movie has. Some also felt too real, and Stone fails to knock his head and say, “You’re writing a goddamn movie, not repeating history.” But following scenes heal the previous’ shortcomings, and it quickly flies away. If the movie is America, the scenes are hands. Get it… “Hands Across America”?
9/11 is deeply associated with a shift in America. And whatever that shift is (full disclosure: I am not American), this harrowing movie manages to symbolize within its realistic CGI, smart editing, and precious acting: in the end, it’s a subtle analysis of the American flag, how patriotism trumps everything, and how humans need each other. If 9/11 teaches us anything, it’s anything — even those rooted within the script of the eponymous movie.
GENRE: Biographical drama
DURATION: 2 hours 9 minutes
WATCHED ON: Blu-ray
AGE RATING: 13+
LANGUAGE: English
