September 12th (David Heinz, 2017): USA

Reviewed by T. Luke Madenwald. Viewed during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2017.

This movie is a beautiful love song to the broken heart of America after the events of 9/11. Not to any specific person, but to the whole nation as a whole. Its a story of how the whole country came together to help and be there for every single person.

The story of September 12th is a one of a kind because it tells the story of two random strangers who’s plane is grounded after the horrific events of 9/11, decide to travel back to the east coast in an old van. Along the way they sing folk songs and befriend people who are trying to get back to their loved ones as well.

This film focuses on how the US came together in a time of suffering rather than the the events of 9/11 themselves. The two characters take turns driving an old beat up van and playing folk songs on the way. There are great moments and scenes in the van that show the weight of the events and how heavily they lay on the two characters conscience.

The movie has such an authentic REAL feeling and it all due to the director wanting as much realism as possible. You can hear the wind whipping around the van and the engine groaning after being driven for so long. Director, David Heinz was looking for that authenticity; thats why the crew actually drove across the country and David spent most of it in the back of the van with the actors. He would watch them on a little monitor in the back and and throw out recommendations for them to do things but mostly ended up leaving the camera rolling and letting the two actors do their thing and really get into the characters.