MUNICH
dir: Steven Spielberg
"When I was a kid, my father used to say 'Our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized.' Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They’ve now said that there were eleven hostages. Two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning, nine were killed at the airport tonight. They’re all gone." - Jim McKay
Brief Synopsis
1972. Munich Olympic games are turned around when 11 Israeli are taken hostage and killed by Palestinian terrorists. Afterwards, the Israeli government hires secret teams of agents to track down and kill those responsible. This is the story of one of those teams.
Why It's Here
"What's going on inside that head? Inside that mind?" asks an American commentator during the crisis as one masked terrorists steps out onto the hotel deck. The chilling sense of seeing behind the scenes is what gives Munich it's initial kick. Beginning with the event itself as seen through the eyes of the terrorists and the hostages, we see what they see in unsettling realism. Munich is Steven Spielberg at his finest, showing his most accomplished (yet under appreciated) serious film to date. A master of blockbusters as a younger man, he has transcended into a man with an ability to create both blockbusters and serious dramas alike. Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan may come close, but once you experience Munich, you will see a master has been at work.
While ending at nearly three hours, the film's length is questionable, however almost every scene is worthy of the film and to edit it would be a crime. The team of assassins that the film focuses on are not the cold-blooded mercenaries we expect, but rather inconspicuous regular men with lives, families, jobs. They uncomfort with their assignment rubs off on the viewer as their inexperience creates tense situations of mistakes and miscalculations. It is especially important for the North American viewer who only sees Palestinian and Israeli conflicts on the news, portrayed as barbaric and unnecessary. Munich gives meaning to the violence, as the characters struggle with the morals of their murders; are they justified because they are restoring the honor to their country, or are they just the same monsters as the terrorists who provoked the conflict? Munich rumbles with uneasy questions and harder answers, great characters and beautiful cinematography that solidifies Steven Spielberg as one of the most important filmmakers in history. It's just a shame so few have seen this film compared to his others.
While ending at nearly three hours, the film's length is questionable, however almost every scene is worthy of the film and to edit it would be a crime. The team of assassins that the film focuses on are not the cold-blooded mercenaries we expect, but rather inconspicuous regular men with lives, families, jobs. They uncomfort with their assignment rubs off on the viewer as their inexperience creates tense situations of mistakes and miscalculations. It is especially important for the North American viewer who only sees Palestinian and Israeli conflicts on the news, portrayed as barbaric and unnecessary. Munich gives meaning to the violence, as the characters struggle with the morals of their murders; are they justified because they are restoring the honor to their country, or are they just the same monsters as the terrorists who provoked the conflict? Munich rumbles with uneasy questions and harder answers, great characters and beautiful cinematography that solidifies Steven Spielberg as one of the most important filmmakers in history. It's just a shame so few have seen this film compared to his others.
Lesson Learned
Killing for the revenge of your country doesn't make it okay! It doesn't make you righteous.
Memorable Moment
The phone bomb has unexpected complications when the target's daughter enters the home to answer the phone.