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Right after seeing United 93, there’s only one thing I can say about it: I was there. That’s how (hyper-)realistically it was done.
There are two things, I believe, that are critical in a movie fashioned like a documentary: humanity and perspective. Humanity, because there is only so much – but so much – a human being can do, and here we experience it driven to its very physical and emotional limits. It is the core of the movie; the very thing that keeps it real. Perspective is the eye with which we see the different aspects of the incident. As perspective is subjective, there are also limits to what we, the audience, see. And perspective is deeply rooted to humanity – we only witness what the characters perceive, nothing more. Perspective is the cinematic flourish that engages us and tightens the tension.
Paul Greengrass, who wrote and directed the movie, is not new to this kind of filmmaking. His Bloody Sunday, about the British massacre of an Irish civil rights group in the 70′s, is equally visceral in its portrayal (albeit a little biased). After having seen two of Greengrass’ “faux documentaries”, I now see that he did not make them just for the sake of re-creation, or depiction, or drama: there is a purpose to each of them. For United 93, it’s to show that, on that fateful day in September, when America faced its greatest odds, it has accomplished a victory in its own little way.