Munich: political futility unmasked
Screenplay written by: George Jonas’s book adapted to screen by
Tony Kushner and Eric Roth
Actors: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciaran Hinds, Mathieu
Kassovitz, Hanns Zischler, Geoffrey Rush
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Rated: R (Strong graphic violence, some sexual content, nudity
and language)
”
Munich
”
is an action-packed fictional account based upon real events
born of the 1972 Olympic tragedy following the slaughter of eleven
Israeli Olympic athletes and a German official by a Palestinian
terrorist group known as Black September. By direction of the Golda
Meir (Lynn Cohen) and her cabinet, a relatively low level assassin
within Mossad, the Israeli secret service, by the name of Avner
(Eric Bana) is chartered with heading the revenge to execute those
responsible, limiting it to happen only in European countries.
While the Israelis will generously fund his bloody mission, they do
it under the condition that Avner and his team’s goal will remain
officially unknown to them. Leaving his pregnant wife in Israel for
an indefinite period of time, and finding himself without a
country, Avner is forced to recruit a French information broker of
questionable loyalty to provide the locations of the targets and
their circumstances for he and his team of diverse experts to
systematically eliminate while struggling with valid internal moral
argument.
Munich: political futility unmasked
Screenplay written by: George Jonas’s book adapted to screen by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth
Actors: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciaran Hinds, Mathieu Kassovitz, Hanns Zischler, Geoffrey Rush
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Rated: R (Strong graphic violence, some sexual content, nudity and language)
“Munich” is an action-packed fictional account based upon real events born of the 1972 Olympic tragedy following the slaughter of eleven Israeli Olympic athletes and a German official by a Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September. By direction of the Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen) and her cabinet, a relatively low level assassin within Mossad, the Israeli secret service, by the name of Avner (Eric Bana) is chartered with heading the revenge to execute those responsible, limiting it to happen only in European countries. While the Israelis will generously fund his bloody mission, they do it under the condition that Avner and his team’s goal will remain officially unknown to them. Leaving his pregnant wife in Israel for an indefinite period of time, and finding himself without a country, Avner is forced to recruit a French information broker of questionable loyalty to provide the locations of the targets and their circumstances for he and his team of diverse experts to systematically eliminate while struggling with valid internal moral argument.
He Said:
I was wandering through a used book store not long ago and came across a 70s era LIFE magazine with a Palestinian youth on the front cover hurling a Molotov cocktail. That image could have been from today’s news, and so goes the cycle of violence!
Spielberg’s protracted political thriller involving the actions of the PLO, Mossad, CIA, and KGB was poignant on so many levels. The utter futility of one group killing another, only to breed more hatred and revenge and more killing, left me with (the deliberate) horrible feeling that it would always be never-ending in the Middle East. The performances by the assassination team leader, Eric Bana as Avner, and Geoffrey Rush as Ephraim, Israel’s oversight man on the operation, added the human dimension within the cold calculating objectives. While the movie repeatedly reminded us of the brutality of the initial Olympic murders to justify the blood letting that followed, Spielberg also delivered the hauntingly palpable futility of one group continually killing another. Planting the question of where it may lead by a view of the twin towers of the World Trade Center was an indelible backdrop. That scene alone was a thought-provoking and haunting vision of the past and future, just as it and this film was intended to be.
On the R&R Scale (1-10):
8 for: Script (Allocated culpability interestingly)
8 for: Direction (Brilliant messaging and details, ala Spielberg)
8 for: Acting (Very good by everyone)
8 for Plot (Peppering in reminders of original events from news clips assumed knowledge of modern history but brought authenticity)
8 for: Entertainment value
8.0 Overall
She Said:
When Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen) justified her vengeance by expressing that every civilization finds it necessary to negotiate compromises with its own values, it summed up not only the Israeli and Palestinian geo-political thrust in the continuum of murderous actions by both groups but also served as a not-so-subtle forecast for the perilous future of any country willing to allow such a compromised moral and ethical condition to exist. The view of New York’s iconic twin towers standing vulnerable was as poignant as the metaphorical scene of the double booking mix-up in a safe-house that had lethal enemies searching for music that they both could enjoy.
As thought-provoking as “Munich” was depressive, I had to try to separate out the emotional impact of the film’s messages from the far more pleasing task of appreciating Spielberg’s film craft and the actor’s significant contributions to the film’s objectives. Artistic license aside amid the fruits of exhaustive research, “Munich” was a film that ultimately brought the high cost to many nations down to the personal level.
The effects of critical humanity compromised were as sad as the dynamics affecting the political landscape. It was a heavy message that begged the question of who are the real brokers and benefactors of fueling the paranoid conflicts, among other questions. What was so uncomfortable and distressing resonated in its content and is definitely worth enduring despite the grenades, bombs, carnage, and futility of it all then, now, and for the foreseeable future.
On the R&R Scale (1-10)
9 for: Script (Poignant in what was unanswered)
10 for: Direction (Uncommon knitting of emotion and effects)
9 for: Acting (Particularly good performances by Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, and Geoffrey Rush)
8 for Plot (So possible, so distressing, with messages of importance)
9 for: Entertainment value
9.0 Overall
