MUNICH

01.06.06 – Steven Spielberg’s latest film is also his most controversial film, perhaps because it does not provide answers but supplies another question. Of both Palestinians and Israelites, neither of which the film finds at total fault but not without fault, it asks, what was it all really for? “Munich” opens with a haunting dramatization of the 1972 Munich Olympics where several Israeli athletes were taken hostage and eventually killed by a Palestinian terrorist group nicknamed Black September. It then moves to the assembly of a secret squadron, set up and funded by the Israeli government to eliminate those Palestinians involved in planning Munich. At the end of the film, the squadron leader is told that he is no longer welcome in Israel because he questions the morals of his mission, but more importantly, the values of Israel.

“Every civilization finds it necessary to negotiate compromises with its own values,” says Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen) during the formation of the revenge squadron shortly after the events of Munich. A former bodyguard to Meir, a noble Israeli named Avner (Eric Bana) is brought in to lead the group, which includes Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz), a bomb builder, Carl (Ciaran Hinds), the one-man clean-up crew, Steve (Daniel Craig), the driver, and Hans (Hanns Zischler), the faux document specialist. Ephriam (Geoffrey Rush), who supplies all the information concerning the mission, erases their identities and their existence. He jokes: “You better not eat any sweets since you don’t have dental insurance anymore.” Ephriam feeds to the team the names of eleven Palestians, all of whom had a hand in planning Munich. Avner and his team travel across Europe (except to the Saudi countries as a safety precaution), and track down these men, eliminating them with whatever force is necessary, though attention-grabbing explosions are preferred.

Louis (Mathieu Amalric), a Frenchman with information on the locations of all the targeted Palestians, assists Avner and his team. Louis and hs “family” hold high regard to family, not to government. Louis’ “Papa” (Michael Lonsdale) believes Avner’s cause to be out of love for family and the need to protect them, but neglects to realize that his squadron is being privately funded by the Israeli government. Or does he? Louis later books Avner and his team into the same safe house as another organization, the PLO, under false identities. Avner converses with the PLO leader late at night about Palestine and Israel, shrouding his own personal opinions under the false identity of a German tourist. Once the PLO discovers the truth, it’s too late.

You might think that I’m giving away the spoils of “Munich,” but I’m not scratching the surface of its depth of intrigue. Details are no substitute for the actual image. “Munich” is filled with scenes ripped straight out of the pages of a spy novel, where the revenge team set up elaborate traps for the targets and always seem to put someone else in even more danger. Just as an example, imagine Avner taking up residence in the room next to a target in a hotel. Imagine that a bomb has been placed under the target’s bed. Now imagine the explosion and its collateral damage, especially considering that the charge of the bomb has been increased beyond intended in the original plan. Close-calls sometimes come too close in this film. I chuckle (albeit morbidly) at that last line, thinking of another scene of high tension and suspense.

“Munich” is an important film that requires deeper insights than those displayed in this review. Someone like Jake, a friend of mine that saw the film, could provide these types of insights. He notices that Spielberg cast Daniel Craig as an Israeli, despite not having the proper appearance (as an aside, Jake also feels that Daniel Craig resembles Steve McQueen, but we’ll skip that analysis). He theorizes that Spielberg did this intentionally to prove that being Israeli is not about appearances, but about conviction. How fitting is it that the Daniel Craig character is the one that utters the phrase, “Israel is in my blood.” Spielberg is the one reciting this, yet at the same time, for making and releasing this film, which seems to have no true resolve, only that it ends, he is being called “no friend of Israel.” It was David Hume that said once: “Truth springs from argument amongst friends.”

THE GOOD: Superbly acted and directed; there is an underlying message in “Munich” that is universal to us all. Even as the simplest form of a thriller, the movie works. There isn’t enough to be said about a movie that features a sex scene in conjunction with reenactments of terrorism.
THE BAD: Runtime is a rather painstaking 164 minutes, which is even more painstaking considering the subject matter.

FINAL GRADE: A+