Spielberg's back in the ''real'' world. Review on Munich Movie

1972, Munich Olympics, 11 Israeli athletes, Black September…ring a bell? Most of us were not born in the year 1972, but there are very few of us who don’t know about the shocking murder of 11 Israeli athletes in the Olympic village in Munich, by a Palestinian extremist organisation called Black September. This incident is, in fact, linked with the birth of modern terrorism. “Munich”, the movie, starts at this point….with the murder of the athletes and the immediate consequences of this heinous act. The movie is based on true events.

DIRECTOR- Steven Spielberg.

CAST- Eric Bana, Geoffrey Rush, Daniel Craig, Ciaran Hinds, Matthew Kassowitz.

PLOT-

Time-1972. Israel, reeling from shock and anger at the cold-blooded murder of 11 Israeli athletes, decides to take quid- pro- quo action against the Black September, Palestinian terrorist group. This “payback” action (actually happened, though never publicly acknowledged…known as “Operation Wrath of God”) consists of hunting down 11 key members of the terrorist organisation and killing them ruthlessly and publicly. A group of five Israeli agents are brought together, headed by Avner (Eric Bana) to hunt down these men , mainly hiding in Europe, and eliminate them.

The Israeli agents are not experienced “killers”, which is evident from the nerves they display on their first kill…but they are committed to their cause and soon the killing gets easier. They have an unlimited supply of money and are able to pay off various sources of intelligence for information regarding the whereabouts of their targets, as well as pay for the explosives they use to blow up their targets.

While tracking the Palestinians and killing them gets simpler, the consequences get more and more murky and complex. One terrorist dies, ten more arise to take his place. In retaliation to the assassinations, an Israeli plane is taken hostage by Palestinians and 112 passengers are killed. Israelis attack Palestine refugee camps and kill a number of innocent civilians…and so it goes on. WHERE DOES IT ALL END?Avner and his group soon start having doubts as to the justification behind their mission. Are they able to hunt down the 11 they set out to kill? Are they able to go back to life as they knew it before the whole mission started?

MY THOUGHTS-

Hollywood has come out with a number of really good, thought provoking films this year, especially in the second half. “Munich” can definitely be counted as one of them.

I think the film can be evaluated on two levels…as a thriller and as a drama. As a thriller, Munich is quite good. Sequences involving the hunt and the kill, mysterious operatives/intelligence sources in Europe with dubious motives, circumstances reversing, hunter becoming the hunted…all ingredients of a good thriller are present, and are well-executed by Spielberg.

It is surprisingly the drama aspect that comes in the way of “Munich” being a masterpiece instead of just “a good film”. Unlike “Schindler’s List”, a great movie famed for its dramatic and emotional impact, Munich doesn’t quite grab you in the same way. The Munich massacre, shown briefly in the beginning, only sets the stage for the hunt that follows. The drama aspect of the movie comes towards the end, when the Israeli agents start questioning their motives, the “righteousness” and consequences of their actions…but somehow, you don’t buy into that, and the introspection doesn’t look convincing.

The director does try to look at both sides of the issue. There is a great scene where the Israeli agents are forced to share a room with PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) members, and Avner gets to talking to one of the Palestinians. He becomes aware of the despair, the homelessness, lack of roots that lie behind the growth of terrorism in Palestine. But there aren’t too many moments like that.

To be fair to Spielberg, this movie was perhaps in some ways harder to make than “Schindlers List” was. The good and evil aspects in that movie were clear. It was all very black and white…literally as well as figuratively. Where it comes to “Munich” and the Palestinian question, there are a lot of grey areas, and it is obvious that Spielberg himself struggled with that. To me, it seems like “Munich” expresses a half-formed thought of Spielberg…had he allowed the thought to grow and mature even further, it would have been a brilliant movie.

As it is, “Munich” should be watched because it documents an important event in history, the consequences of which can still be observed in the world we live in today.