I think Cloverfield might be the closest we ever came to a Godzilla of 9/11. Partly because it is very obviously inspired by Godzilla, but mostly because it is obvious that the madness on the ground near Ground Zero informed the narrative in a big way. But it looks like you're probably going to talk about War of the Worlds next anyway, and it's informed by 9/11 in a similar way.
I think the "on the ground" perspective of both was informed by 9/11, especially the news coverage. And of course in War of the Worlds there's the fact that survivors are literally covered in dust. And in both films there is this sense that mere survival is all you have left, you are up against something that you can only really hope to maybe get out of the way of.
absolutely - i think you see in the alien invasion genre a way for Americans to reclaim an underdog idea of themselves (or more charitably a feeling of vulnerability) that became totally implausible after the fall of the USSR. but as you point out, after 9/11 it feels like there are fewer 'hero' stories in that genre and more 'survivor' stories
Yeah you could view the Cylon attack as an analog of 9/11, but obviously it was way more significant in the show than 9/11 was in reality. I think that's the challenge of 9/11 films -- either the event has to be way more significant (NY is destroyed!) or the reaction has to be way out of proportion (because the 9/11 reaction was).
repeating myself a bit from a previous comment, but i think the vastly inflated scale of the destruction - turning a single attack into an existential threat - is a way to dramatise and process a feeling of national vulnerability that had been absent since at least 1991. just as Japanese films about the atom bomb are often also about the shattering of a particular idea of Japan, i think many 9/11 films are about the shattering of American 'victory' after the Cold War. the best and crudest example might be all those 9/11 political cartoons
To my mind, one of the quintessential 9/11 movies, and one that seems to only gain significance with time, is Burn After Reading (2b. ii?)
I don't ever see the movie brought up in this context, maybe because the CIA misadventures are focused on the cold war, but it so distinctly about a pre&post-9/11 USA, our hidden desires, our hang-ups, our faults and misadventures, etc
25th hour is the best 9/11 movie imo. the siege (annette bening/denzel/ed zwick) feels like the most 9/11 movie to have been made and released before 9/11
It certainly is not a 9/11 Godzilla, but for me the best movie that’s about the effects of 9/11, both metaphorically and literally, is Margaret. The 2 1/2 hour (or 3 hour in one version) drama about a teenage girl directed by Kenneth Lonergan and starring a still very young Anna Paquin.
Not sure if it makes your list. And if it does, it probably would be in the 90’s movies since it’s essentially a 90s indie. The fact that it came out 2011 because it took like 7 years to be released, doesn’t help it get remembered as a 9/11 movie. But watching it really makes it clear that it’s about what it was like to live in America (and New York, specifically) in 2003-4. And also about trying to make sense of a tragedy that one may or may not have helped cause and certainly doesn’t understand.
Watchmen and War of the Worlds immediately comes to mind.
The Superhero films category will do a lot of heavy lifting here, but 9/11’s influence infused and sculpted the telling and interpretation of these old stories in hindsight rather than informing the deliberate creation of an elegant metaphor like Godzilla/Akira. I doubt they would be so clearly remembered/associated with 9/11 the way a Godzilla or Akira is informed by the atomic bomb, but encountering the paranoia, nihilism and conspiratorial thinking in ‘escapist’ blockbuster entertainment was the most potent example of how experience of consuming culture post 9/11 felt like.
It's not very good but IMO "Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within" counts as a 9/11 movie, in that it comes off as a ham-handed allegory for America's response to 9/11, despite being released two months earlier in July.
I don't know quite where this one would fit within your rubric -- probably category six, though it could also be category one, if "specifically" actually meant "implicitly" or "subtextually" -- but Spike Lee's "25th Hour" is my favorite 9/11 movie by a long shot.
“Anger management” was such a quintessential post 9-11 movie. Maybe not great, but I have fond memories of watching it. I remember Jack Nicholson saying in an interview that because of 9-11 he only wanted to do comedies.
calling my shot now: The Dark Knight is the 'Godzilla' of 9/11
in terms of 9/11 & american fiction, Sopranos is my personal favorite. never looks at it head-on but Tony knows it's coming from the start of the pilot
I still think The Leftovers is the best 9/11 tv show fwiw.
For subcategory 2d, the best of this group came BEFORE 9/11: Enemy of the State. Someone (maybe Nathan Rabin but I'm not sure) wrote how Gene Hackman's character was an apologia for his character in The Conversation.
To footnote 5: I recently dropped my kids off at a playground and sat on the bench next to a parent/guardian. White guy, middle aged. Seemed friendly at first. Then he pointed to a plane in the sky and started talking about chemtrails, claiming that he usually doesn't believe conspiracy stuff but he watched a video online and it changed his mind. And I just sat there like someone passed a fart during an exchange of vows at a wedding ceremony: I don't know what to say, I'm pretending this isn't happening, I'm trying not to laugh, and I want it to be over soon.
I think Cloverfield might be the closest we ever came to a Godzilla of 9/11. Partly because it is very obviously inspired by Godzilla, but mostly because it is obvious that the madness on the ground near Ground Zero informed the narrative in a big way. But it looks like you're probably going to talk about War of the Worlds next anyway, and it's informed by 9/11 in a similar way.
i haven't seen Cloverfield since it came out, but i think Spielberg's War of the Worlds holds up enough to qualify as a 'decent' 9/11 movie
I think the "on the ground" perspective of both was informed by 9/11, especially the news coverage. And of course in War of the Worlds there's the fact that survivors are literally covered in dust. And in both films there is this sense that mere survival is all you have left, you are up against something that you can only really hope to maybe get out of the way of.
absolutely - i think you see in the alien invasion genre a way for Americans to reclaim an underdog idea of themselves (or more charitably a feeling of vulnerability) that became totally implausible after the fall of the USSR. but as you point out, after 9/11 it feels like there are fewer 'hero' stories in that genre and more 'survivor' stories
The best filmed depiction of Iraq/Afghanistan is the Battlestar Galactica season where the heroes become terrorists.
BSG definitely feels like one of the few genuinely good movies/shows about 9/11 and its aftermath
Yeah you could view the Cylon attack as an analog of 9/11, but obviously it was way more significant in the show than 9/11 was in reality. I think that's the challenge of 9/11 films -- either the event has to be way more significant (NY is destroyed!) or the reaction has to be way out of proportion (because the 9/11 reaction was).
repeating myself a bit from a previous comment, but i think the vastly inflated scale of the destruction - turning a single attack into an existential threat - is a way to dramatise and process a feeling of national vulnerability that had been absent since at least 1991. just as Japanese films about the atom bomb are often also about the shattering of a particular idea of Japan, i think many 9/11 films are about the shattering of American 'victory' after the Cold War. the best and crudest example might be all those 9/11 political cartoons
To my mind, one of the quintessential 9/11 movies, and one that seems to only gain significance with time, is Burn After Reading (2b. ii?)
I don't ever see the movie brought up in this context, maybe because the CIA misadventures are focused on the cold war, but it so distinctly about a pre&post-9/11 USA, our hidden desires, our hang-ups, our faults and misadventures, etc
An even more oblique 9/11 movie is Meek's Cutoff (2a). Kelly Reichardt is on record as saying the movie is about GWB and the Iraq War.
25th hour is the best 9/11 movie imo. the siege (annette bening/denzel/ed zwick) feels like the most 9/11 movie to have been made and released before 9/11
Your former colleague Nate Jones emailed me about 25th Hour almost IMMEDIATELY... Vulture 25th Hour hive lives
i would also like to submit the newsroom scene where the producer tells the pilot about bin ladens death
This happens in the same cinematic universe as Remember Me
It certainly is not a 9/11 Godzilla, but for me the best movie that’s about the effects of 9/11, both metaphorically and literally, is Margaret. The 2 1/2 hour (or 3 hour in one version) drama about a teenage girl directed by Kenneth Lonergan and starring a still very young Anna Paquin.
Not sure if it makes your list. And if it does, it probably would be in the 90’s movies since it’s essentially a 90s indie. The fact that it came out 2011 because it took like 7 years to be released, doesn’t help it get remembered as a 9/11 movie. But watching it really makes it clear that it’s about what it was like to live in America (and New York, specifically) in 2003-4. And also about trying to make sense of a tragedy that one may or may not have helped cause and certainly doesn’t understand.
Watchmen and War of the Worlds immediately comes to mind.
The Superhero films category will do a lot of heavy lifting here, but 9/11’s influence infused and sculpted the telling and interpretation of these old stories in hindsight rather than informing the deliberate creation of an elegant metaphor like Godzilla/Akira. I doubt they would be so clearly remembered/associated with 9/11 the way a Godzilla or Akira is informed by the atomic bomb, but encountering the paranoia, nihilism and conspiratorial thinking in ‘escapist’ blockbuster entertainment was the most potent example of how experience of consuming culture post 9/11 felt like.
It's not very good but IMO "Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within" counts as a 9/11 movie, in that it comes off as a ham-handed allegory for America's response to 9/11, despite being released two months earlier in July.
How could you omit one of the most poignant pieces of 9/11 art?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSyrFuAydD4
two movies to consider:
— julie and julia
— the card counter
The Card Counter is, to my mind, THE movie about US forever wars.
I don't know quite where this one would fit within your rubric -- probably category six, though it could also be category one, if "specifically" actually meant "implicitly" or "subtextually" -- but Spike Lee's "25th Hour" is my favorite 9/11 movie by a long shot.
“Anger management” was such a quintessential post 9-11 movie. Maybe not great, but I have fond memories of watching it. I remember Jack Nicholson saying in an interview that because of 9-11 he only wanted to do comedies.
calling my shot now: The Dark Knight is the 'Godzilla' of 9/11
in terms of 9/11 & american fiction, Sopranos is my personal favorite. never looks at it head-on but Tony knows it's coming from the start of the pilot
I still think The Leftovers is the best 9/11 tv show fwiw.
For subcategory 2d, the best of this group came BEFORE 9/11: Enemy of the State. Someone (maybe Nathan Rabin but I'm not sure) wrote how Gene Hackman's character was an apologia for his character in The Conversation.
To footnote 5: I recently dropped my kids off at a playground and sat on the bench next to a parent/guardian. White guy, middle aged. Seemed friendly at first. Then he pointed to a plane in the sky and started talking about chemtrails, claiming that he usually doesn't believe conspiracy stuff but he watched a video online and it changed his mind. And I just sat there like someone passed a fart during an exchange of vows at a wedding ceremony: I don't know what to say, I'm pretending this isn't happening, I'm trying not to laugh, and I want it to be over soon.
No one has said “love actually” yet! The weird opening monologue where Hugh Grant says 9-11 proves that all we need is love.
My partner said the same thing after I read a bit of this post aloud to her.
Are the explicit visual references to Abu Ghraib in Children of Men and Inside Man enough to make them count?
I hope you include "Children of Men"!