This is the movie that has the footage of the first plane hitting the tower, and was aired uncensored on several anniversaries, including the 6-month and 1-year. The first 1/3 is the movie they meant to make (about a NYFD firehouse) and the last 2/3 is the movie they ended up making.
I highly recommend it, especially for people who are not old enough to remember that day.
I think that was the most powerful doc of Sept 11 I’ve seen. It was real time. I remember the brothers tried to make dinner for the fire department crew the day before and they underestimated the amount of meat they’d need.
Then the brothers got separated and it wasn’t until later, when they both got back to the station, that they realized they both survived. Each one thought the other had died.
One of them saw dead bodies laying in the lobby and heard the horrible thuds as people jumped. He made the decision not to turn the camera to catch that, of course.
There’s another doco called 102 Minutes That Changed America that is also very powerful. It uses footage from a variety of sources - mostly random people who were filming things, some news stuff, the Naudet brothers - to go from first tower impact to second tower collapse in close to real time.
(I just watched the film a few weeks ago.)
As he entered the lobby with the firemen, a woman came running toward them, fully ablaze from the burning jet fuel that had fallen down an elevator shaft. He instantly decided “no one needs to see this” (exact quote, I think) and turned the camera away from her.
I only watched that film once, the first time it aired (9/11 stuff infuriates me and turns me into a ranting racist :D). I don’t think it was the French filmmaker brothers who got separated, it was a rookie fireman from the firehouse that they lost track of. In the afternoon, after it was mostly over, he just walked back and into the firehouse, prompting a pretty emotional response from everyone.
When they first arrived in the lobby of the first tower hit they started hearing the loud (and I mean loud) thuds outside, and neither of the French filmmakers had any idea what it was (nor did most of the viewers I think). But the firemen, having encountered it before in their careers, knew immediately what it was and in a very low-key manner (being they could do nothing about it) said so. And again, the filmmakers were so shocked by this they barely reacted (and didn’t try to film it).
Eek, I can feel the hate flowing thru me… :mad:
No, I remember one of the brothers getting back to the station and frantically asking a firefighter, “Have you seen Jules?” The firefighter looked at him funny and said, “He’s behind you.” They were also missing the rookie firefighter…IIRC, some captain grabbed him and they took off somewhere. Then he showed up safe and sound.
I also remember one of the firefighters was left behind at the station and he was PISSED. I know someone had to man the fort but that must have been so hard for a first responder…to not be able to respond to an emergency.
Looks like Amazon has pulled it. It’s listed, but unavailable.
It’s aired on CBS a couple of times. That, along with 102 Minutes, is one I’d like to see again.
UPDATE: CNN will be showing it at 8p on Sunday.
After thinking about it, you’re right, both of those things happened (the brothers being separated and the rookie showing up later). Like I said, I could only ever watch it once (I even have on VHS someplace…)