Munich on DVD (2005)

Tit for Tat in a war that may see no end

Sam from Maidenhead , 01/02/2006

The Jewish / Palestinian conflict has been raging since 1947 and the episode in Munich with the massacre of the Israeli Olympic team back in '72 is just one chapter from this sorry affair. The film Munich is both powerful and depressing because it addresses the contradictory solution of using violence to end violence. An unofficial Israeli hit squad is led by Avner (Eric Bana) and they have to assassinate one by one the Palestinian perpetrators of the Munich massacre. However as their targets each meet a grisly death the assassinations begin to question their own sanity and moral justification that what they are doing makes any sense. The film is not biased in any way as Speilberg does allow the Palestinians a voice to put across their case. Similarly he also focuses on the Jews who have to live with the consequences that so long as they harbour the Palestinians as sub human they have to live with the consequences. Hatred begets hatred. Munich ends on the note that neither side has the high moral ground.

The film does not quite work as a thriller because the assassination set ups become boring by the third target and you know what will come next. It is also about thirty minutes too long but it is difficult to see how any of it could have been trimmed as their is so much too cram in. The acting is very good by all especially Eric Bana who is growing in stature with every film. There are some nice shots by Speilberg and the sound is excellent. Some scenes are very tense and exciting such as the stand off with the PLO in a Greek hotel whilst others can almost send you asleep. The Seventies is wonderfully recreated even if some of the sets (especially London) look a little obvious. Munich is probably Speilberg's bravest movie since Schindler's List and for that he must be commended. Don't let anyone else make up your mind as to whether it is pro or anti Jewish. Go see it and make your own mind up because it is definitely worth watching.

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Possibly Speilberg's best?

fifitrixybell from Merseyside , 17/01/2006

Saw this film last night at a preview and I can't stop thinking about it!

This film is a true masterpiece and well worth the wait! After leaving the cinema I almost felt nervous- the film really gets inside your head- a bit like Hitchcock gets inside your head in 'Rear Window'. The film is dimly lit in many places, which gives this thriller a very dark edge, but still bringing home the realism of terrorism within today’s society- especially during the last scene in New York, where there's a really poignant shot of the World Trade Centre.

The film dives right into the story and has you hooked from the first scene. The cast is great- Eric Bana plays the part of Anvar fantastically and really emotional and Geoffrey Rush is really stern as Ephraim.

This film will stay with you for ever and could be watched over and over again to find something new to appreciate.

7 out of 7, plus another 7!

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Disappointment

Andybe from Richmond [Highly rated reviewer] , 24/06/2006

'Munich' wasn't a bad film, but all the build up for it left me wanting.

The film builds a plausible story around the basic facts that Israeli athletes killed in Munich and that known/suspected plotters of the attacks were hunted down. Spielberg, himself, says this is a story not a documentary - we don't actually know what happened.

The story, though, is repetitious and fails to build suspense. Spielberg knows how to tell a riveting story where the outcome is already known (e.g., Schindlers List), but he didn't do it here. This story became a monotony of assassinations with minor twists thrown in.

Spielberg does succeed in putting a human face on what is almost universally seen as mindless violence in the Middle East. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians emerge from this film as heroes or villains. Munich suggests there are reasons for what goes on, I'm just not sure I believe the suggestions.

Munich puts some important thought processes in motion for its viewers and the acting was good. Unfortunately the story fails and left disappointment in its wake.

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A whimper, not a bang.

Daniel Shires from London , 24/10/2006

Munich is a curiously uninvolving affair, and for my money by far the weakest Spielberg non-blockbuster movie that he's done.

Bana stars as a Mossad agent who is taken 'off the books' after the dreadful Munich Olympics massacre of the Israeli team by Black September, purely to meet revenge on the perpetrators of what was a quite appalling crime. With direct approval from Golda Meir and with a team of 4 specialists, it's Bana's job to find and kill 11 people connected to the Munich atrocity.

So far, so intriguing.

But it's Spielbergs absolute utter refusal to be anything less than fully even handed that scuppers any of the films dramatic tension. It's simply a repetitive structure of Bana having someone killed, feeling awful regret about it (tempered by a flashback to the Munich siege, which he wasn't even involved with, to motivate him) finding the next person, killing them, feeling bad about it, finding the next person... well, you get the picture.

Even a late starter subplot, where it looks like the person selling information to Bana may well have sold information about him to the Palestinians fails to ignite any real interest.

And the exposition - good lord, it's heavy on the exposition. About three quarters of the way through there's a speech from one of the team outlining pretty much every single thing that's happened to that point, just in case you weren't paying attention/had dropped off at some point. It's like Miss Hoolie has entered the gangs hideout and asked 'What's the story in Balamory?'

The finale of the film also has an absolutely ludicrous sex scene intercut with a final Munich flashback that I was simply laughing at by that point. Bana's climax involves so much sweat flying off him it's like he's been submerged in a pool and is coming up for air.

In the end, it's a film which is trying so hard to say a lot, it ends up saying absolutely nothing - nothing about the Middle East conflict, nothing about the actions of both Palestine and Israel, nothing even about the nature of revenge and what it can do to someone. It merely says that the Munich atrocity was an awful thing, and that state sponsored killing is an awful thing as well - both of which I pretty much knew before I put the DVD into the machine.

Hugely disappointing.

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Steven Spielberg - Biased?

A customer from Altrincham , 24/05/2008

Reading the other reviews here I can't believe I'm the only person who feels this film is significantly one sided.

I know this is rightly a motive subject but any one choosing to watch this film will hold opinions about what has happened in Israel/Palestine in the past 100 years. The idea that Steven Spielberg of all people is unbiased to me seems like a joke. Just look at the other movies his made?!

I don't blame the guy we are all biased by our heritage, our peers and the media etc but lets' not make out he's some judicious force injecting us with impartiality. I like many Spielberg movies and was happy to watch this one with a view to seeing a given point of view but please please don't watch this and think you now have an even handed interpretation of such a complex situation!

I felt that some of the arguments were anything from weak to childish. I can't remember the minister’s name (sorry) but when she gives her little speech about weighing the decision and taking it baring full responsibility for the consequences I was in dumbfounded! This seen was around the level you might set for a discussion between primary children or George bush.

To say the movie showed the Palestinian side of the story is not untrue however it did so almost as a token gesture. We were at no point encouraged to empathise with the Palestinian cause, talk between fellow Israeli’s about these issues does not cut it for me as truly showing an even hand, nor did the easily outwitted Palestinian debating in the stairwell. Again I do not mind a partial film, what I do mind is trying to make out it is impartial when it clearly is not.

If this film was truly impartial the harrowing thread of the Munich atrocity laced through the movie would have been complemented by another thread showing some other event committed against Palestinians to explain their anger. I don’t know, You could throw some characterisation into the mix if you wanted to go wild?

Think along the lines of Das Boot in terms of empathising with the enemy and I think you might be getting somewhere. I doubt many people living in the UK would claim to have a problem with the result of WW2 but nor do I doubt that many of us sat there listening to the hull creaking cheering and shouting crush the B**tards! That’s empathy for your fellow man irrespective of race or nationality.

I don’t know any good films about Palestinians but I do know a good book called “Palestine” of all things! It’s by a comic illustrator / journalist called Joe Sacco. As you can imagine the book is a comic and pretty easy reading if you don’t pay attention to the content, not so easy going if you do. This is a book that is partial, no bones Joe isn’t on the fence so be prepared, but maybe this film and that book will form just a small part of a more balanced picture?

Anyway I’ve had my rant all that’s left to say is that I did enjoy the film I didn’t nod off but I wasn’t expecting anything gratuitous either. I don’t think a thriller about this subject would be very nice to be honest! If you want to see one snap shot of one partial viewpoint watch the film. Just remember it’s not true.

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Possibly Speilberg's best?

fifitrixybell from Merseyside , 17/01/2006

Saw this film last night at a preview and I can't stop thinking about it!

This film is a true masterpiece and well worth the wait! After leaving the cinema I almost felt nervous- the film really gets inside your head- a bit like Hitchcock gets inside your head in 'Rear Window'. The film is dimly lit in many places, which gives this thriller a very dark edge, but still bringing home the realism of terrorism within today’s society- especially during the last scene in New York, where there's a really poignant shot of the World Trade Centre.

The film dives right into the story and has you hooked from the first scene. The cast is great- Eric Bana plays the part of Anvar fantastically and really emotional and Geoffrey Rush is really stern as Ephraim.

This film will stay with you for ever and could be watched over and over again to find something new to appreciate.

7 out of 7, plus another 7!

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