the audience applauded

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Unsurprisingly, there seems to be a huge divide between reviewers here as to whether this film is a tribute to or an indictment of America. Perhaps less surprisingly, voters appear to be more aligned with reviewers who hated the film and found it un-American, meaning that I fully expect to get seriously down-voted here. With the passage of time (15 years later) though, it is clear to me that this group is missing the point. Yes, "September 11" seemed rather unpatriotic upon its release, but with the aid of the aforementioned distance, we can now look back on it more clearly and better accept its honesty and realism. For the most part, I admit that I too was left with the impression that the overarching message here is that America should become aware that equally horrendous acts of terror exist the world over and maybe even that the American government had it coming due to the terrorism it has and continues to inflict upon others. What is so terrible about at least considering the merits of this argument and striving for a better understanding of the more global view this film strives to present?To me, the overall product actually surpasses the sum of its parts specifically because it amounts to a collective effort for worldwide soul-searching. Of course, there are stronger and weaker segments here. With one exception (Mira Nair's straightforward and heartfelt storytelling), the quality of the short films increase up to Ken Loach's masterful love letter to Chile as presented through the heart and pen of an exiled Chilean in London. This is where we're reminded of the atrocities of the American government's direct involvement in the murder of democratically elected Salvador Allende and thousands (not just hundreds) of Chileans beginning on September 11, 1973. Oh, the bitter irony!Leading up to this apex, we also get two small-scale bittersweet short films by France's Claude Lelouch and Burkina Faso's Idrissa Ouedrago. Some dismiss these segments as being the two least related to the tragedy of 9/11, but I beg to differ, particularly if you enjoy personal and highly innocent stories mirroring grand-scale events.Minus Nair's tale of a Pakistani mother mourning the loss of her son who was wrongfully suspected of being a terrorist when he was actually at ground zero helping to save lives, the quality goes down somewhat after Loach's contribution midway through. The weakest film here is Israeli director Amos Gitai's cacophonous contribution depicting the aftermath of a car bomb going off on the streets of Tel Aviv (not Jerusalem, as mistakenly identified by some reviewers). While perhaps a somewhat effective anti-media propaganda piece, it lacks subtlety and screams for attention solely based on production techniques. Similarly chaotic is Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's experimental segment, which is essentially just a plain black screen (turning white at the very end) interspersed with just a few one or two second images of people jumping out of windows at the twin towers and a purposely overbearing soundtrack consisting of phone messages being left for loved ones by soon-to-perish victims. Perhaps too "collegiate" artsy for its own good, it nevertheless silently poses the poignant question at its end, "Does God's light guide us or blind us?" Great food for thought! This would have been a lot more effective as the closing segment in "September 11."In closing, it is so disappointing to hear that this film was banned in the US until it became available on DVD. That, to me, brings to mind the stubborn and misguided refusal of our government to address gun violence/regulation every time we experience an unnecessary episode of mass murder in America. Let's not bury our heads in the sand and deny the harsh realities of modern life!

Not worth your time, your money, your emotions, your pity, your ability to articulate no matter how diminished. This is a totally subjective view point from a treasonous who espouses more sympathy for those that would destroy us rather than for the same country and system that helped him build his fortune. Hypocrisy at it's best/worst. Guys like Penn should be thankful that the same capitalistic, freedom loving system that he despises allows him him to have that very right. But he is too stupid to get that, or too manipulating. In years and eras gone by they would have tried him for treason or sedition and would have dealt with him in the most severe manner. What scares the most here is that there are those out there-many out there-that take what sewer water that spews out of the mouths of jerks like this and treat it as fact. Much like they did with that bloated self absorbed opportunist Michael Moore. Cmon hard core left, wake up-realize things aren't all bad and treat people based on fact and not well oiled innuendo and propaganda.

French production in which leading film directors from 11 countries were invited to create 11-minute short films conveying their reflections on the events of September 11.The film segments vary widely in content and quality. Two allude to U.S. complicity in terrorist acts (in Chile against Allende, who died on September 11, 1973, depicted in the segment by British director Ken Loach; and in Palestine by U.S.-backed Israelis, shown in the segment from Egyptian director Youssef Chahine). Two more recall other destructive acts (a Palestinian suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, shot by Israeli director Amos Gitan; the Japanese "holy war" against the west in WW II, by Shohei Imamura).Ironies abound in several stories. Shadows that darken the New York City apartment of a grieving old man suddenly disappear as the World Trade towers telescope to the ground in Sean Penn's piece, bringing the man momentary joy. But in this bright light he can finally see that his wife is really gone. In Mira Nair's film, based on a real incident, a missing young man, also in New York City, the son of a Pakistani family, is first presumed to be a fugitive terrorist, but later he proves to a hero who sacrificed himself trying to save others in the towers.There are poignant moments dotted throughout. Loach has his exiled Chilean man quote St. Augustine, to the effect that hope is built of anger and courage: anger at the way things are, courage to change them. Imamura tells us that there is no such thing as a holy war. Samira Makhmalbaf shows a teacher with her very young Afghan schoolchildren, exiled in Iran, trying to tell them about the events that have just transpired in New York. But they are understandably more impressed with a major event in their refugee camp, where two men have fallen into a deep well, one killed, the other sustaining a broken leg. This is comprehensible tragedy on a grand scale for the 6 year olds. Idrissa Ouedraogo, from Burkina Faso, creates a drama in which the son of an ailing woman spots Osama bin Laden in their village and gathers his buddies to help capture the fugitive terrorist, in order to get the $25 million U. S. reward. He tells his friends not to let any of the adults know their plans, for the older folks would merely waste the money on cars and cigarettes, while he plans to help his mother and others who are sick and destitute.It is Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (maker of "Amores Perros") who provides by far the most powerful and chilling segment, one that, for the most part, shows only a darkened screen with audio tape loops of chanting and voices and occasional thudding sounds. Brief visual flashes gradually permit us to see bodies falling from the high floors of the towers, and it dawns on us that the thuds are these bodies hitting the ground. The sequence ends with elegiac orchestral music and a still shot, bearing a phrase first shown only in Arabic, then with a translation added: "Does God's light guide us or blind us?" (In various languages with English subtitles) Grade: 8/10 (B+). (Seen on 10/31/04). If you'd like to read more of my reviews, send me a message for directions to my websites.

If we leave out all the politics (for so far there is), and look at the movie in an artistic way...then we can only say it is going bad with the film industry. What did they try to bring here...and why should a movie like this being banned in the US ? What is bad in that movie that can harm anybody ? ...the only bad thing is the whole movie...doesn't really make sense, doesn't bring a lot of emotions with it, except then the life images of the WTC which make you think about what went trough there heads when it all happened. Did they really had to spend that much money for a poor result like that ? Can't believe this movie gets a ratting like that...not worth looking at... Maybe i should get into filming !