Films about 9/11 require great sensitivity

Tonight, many of the surviving relatives of the men and women who perished on United Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001, will gather in midtown New York for opening night of the Tribeca Film Festival. The festival will debut "United 93," the first major motion picture about the attacks on America.

No surprise, the film has stirred controversy about a motion-picture portrayal of one of the darkest days in this nation's history. Some contend that it is too soon to depict this tragedy on the big screen. Others argue that motion pictures about Pearl Harbor were in theaters within months of that attack, although many portrayals were jingoistic and thinly disguised propaganda.

The film doesn't open to general audiences until Friday, so it's impossible to pronounce whether British filmmaker Paul Greengrass has succeeded in dignifying the memory of the remarkable men and women on the flight. Greengrass says he and his associates contacted every family in the course of developing the film and the families have been overwhelmingly supportive of the project. In fact, most will attend tonight's debut.

It sounds like Greengrass has handled this about as well as one could. It's naive to believe that Americans were just going to go about their business and not reflect on the events of Sept. 11. It's a story begging to be told. But it's a story that must be told with great sensitivity, accuracy and dignity.

It's my hope that Greengrass succeeds in his depiction of United Flight 93. "United 93" recreates the doomed trip in actual time. It will be painful to watch, knowing how the story ends. But it is also a story of tremendous courage of disconnected strangers who came together to take on the hijackers.

To answer my own question, no, it is not too soon to tell the story. Greengrass' burden — and honor — is to tell the story well.

David Beamer, father of United passenger Todd Beamer, told The Orange County Register that "family members who have seen the film are unanimous in their support of 'United 93.'" Todd Beamer and other passengers overwhelmed four men who had hijacked the Boeing 757 and planned to crash it into the U.S. Capitol. The commercial jet crashed instead in a field near Shanksville, Pa., killing all on board.

"This is an important story about real people fighting a real battle in a real war. This story needs to be told factually and accurately for this generation, and generations to come," Beamer said in The Orange County Register.