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Review #82 of 365
Film: Munich [R] 164 minutes
WIP™ Scale: (1st $15.00 + 2nd $15.00)/2 = $15.00
When 2nd Seen: 2 April 2006
Where Viewed: Cinemark Movies 10, Rochester, NY
Dedicated to: Emily H. and Bradford H. of Chicago, IL
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My most highly-rated film of 2005, Munich is still the only film to earn the coveted W.I.P. Scale™ score of $15.00 since this project was begun. Now, the review that would have been written last December had I begun the project before I first saw Munich.
Throughout his storied career, Steven Spielberg has arguably done more for the film industry than any other director of all time. To me, he is the Wayne Gretzky crossed with the Martin Luther King, Jr. with some J. S. Bach, Albert Einstein, and Christopher Wren mixed in for good measure of the cinematic entertainment world. When you stop and really think about this three-time USC Film School rejectee, and yet the films he has created, from Jaws, Poltergeist, and E.T., to Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, and War of the Worlds, to Empire of the Sun, Schindler’s List, and Saving Private Ryan he has given us some of the most memorable movies of modern times. In my mind, what separates him from the likes of other brilliant directors such as Scorsese, Coppala, Attenborough, Allen, and Pollack is that I believe he, more than the others, really makes films for the audience. This is why he has taken on The Color Purple, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Hook. He really does try to pick stories he thinks will catch our imagination and wonder, bring us an important message, or dazzle us with effects. There are not many directors as versatile as he is. I mean imagine directing Amistad, Artificial Intelligence, and Catch Me if You Can all within a few years time? And this is not to mention the many dozens of other projects, tv shows, service as producer to other films, etc. all going on simultaneously in his mind. For all of this, I admire him and would rank him as the most important person in the history of movies in the USA which is a pretty heady honor. Well, Spielberg has done it again. This time, the film is Munich. Unfortunately, I fear that no review could ever be written to really do this film the justice it richly deserves—that I accept from the outset.
The film would not be Spielberg if all it were was a recreation of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games hostage crisis where Israeli athletes were captured as part of a political ploy by members of a Middle Eastern arab liberation organization to free alleged political prisoners held in Israel. No, this story, instead begins with that horrifying event, and then moves into the Israeli governmental response to the tragedy. Then Prime Minister, Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen) is pictured to have held very high level meetings with her military staff and authorized the creation of an anti-terrorist force to neutralize all of those who worked to carry out the Olympic team hostage crisis. Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush) is called upon to meet with a former Mossad agent and previous body guard to the Prime Minister, Avner (Eric Bana), and give him the details he would need in order to carry out the mission of assassination of all of those people implicated in planning and executing the hostage crisis. When he agrees to the task, he is given two Swiss bank safety deposit boxes and four men to work with: Steve (Daniel Craig) the strong arm, Carl (Ciarán Hinds) the clean up man, Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz) the bomb maker, and Hans (Hanns Zischler) the fake document specialist and antique dealer. To participate, Avner must leave his home and pregnant wife in Israel, wipe everything from his memory and conscience, and step forward as the leader of this band. First things first, he must acquire the locations of the targets, which he does using a lot of cash and a very unusual informant name Louie (Mathieu Amalric). In the process of working together, these men bond. As their success grows, they seek additional assignments and to keep going. But as with all good plans eventually they much come to an end. The plot while maybe sounding a bit dry here is completely compelling and intriguing. It is fascinating, indeed, to watch each man cope with the reality of his job and bear witness to each one’s evolution in thinking. How does one reach a justification for the killing of other people, even in the name of fighting to protect one’s right for a homeland? Avner, in particular, bears the most pain as not only is the anointed hit man and leader of the death squad, he more than the others relives the horror of the events over and over in his mind.
Munich is a film that works on so many different levels, but I feel, really, this is Spielberg’s letter to the populace about the problem with working for war instead of peace. In particular, he chose a vehicle for the message that no one could criticize. After all, a movie that causes doubt to the logic that if you are attacked you are justified to retaliate even if the reason you were attacked was because of the not-so-good stuff you had previously done, is going to appear heavy handed or two-faced depending on how the political hammer is swung. The story, of course, took place 34 years ago or so, making it easier to digest now, but the message is still there, still relevant, and still significant. If the total sum of all the equivalent resources used to wage war on the face of the earth since the appearance of warring human beings were used instead to wage peace, imagine the difference for a moment. Imagine what the world we might leave to the next generation of children could look like if right now, every where, every one, just stopped and committed to living a good, honest, and purposeful life in harmony with the environment and the quintillions of other living creatures on this planet. Imagine the lifting of permanent guilt that is passed from generation to generation and freeing the next generation to really live unencumbered by the past focusing solely and squarely on participating in a brilliant future. Is it really a utopian vision? Perhaps it is as long as human beings continue to wage war with each other, as long as we continue to fear each other, and as long as we continue to tolerate the notion that war is the answer, there can never truly be peace. As Avner learns in the film, with every enemy you kill, you create at least two more—his or her parents/guardians, but usually many, many more: siblings, friends, life partners, and generations to offspring to come. There has to be a better way to solve our problems and our differences. I believe that Mr. Spielberg hoped via Munich to allow us all to see these things, contemplate them, and then actively work to shape a better world. In each of us, there is a capacity for tremendous contributions to the science and culture of our planet. Each one of us has the ability to choose to do better than we had done to us. Yet, it is only with a conscious effort, an abandoning of antiquated notions, and a willingness to accept the brotherhood / sisterhood of humanity, that we have a prayer of ultimately surviving.
Now Available for Purchase on DVD
Munich [DVD] (2005) DVD
Munich (Widescreen Version) [DVD] (2005) DVD
Munich (Limited Edition) [DVD] (2005) DVD
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