A Neutral View on Extrajudicial Killings

Rating: 9/10 (3 November 2017)

Munich, whilst not a slavishly accurate historical depiction of the events after the massacre of Israeli athletes in West Germany in 1972 is an excellent movie showing the impact that these sort of operations have on the people involved in them.
Eric Bana's role as team leader Avner Kaufman is superb, bringing a real humanity to this Mossad agent. The trials and tribulations he and his team go through during the years away from Israel are many and aren't just 'brushed off' like some action movie heroes might.
The other cast members are equally adept at giving a real face to their roles. Daniel Craig plays Steve, the hot-headed South African, Ciarán Hinds as Carl, the worldly, at times melancholy old soldier, Hanns Zischler as Hans, the pragmatic German 'cleaner' and Mathieu Kassovitz as Robert, the Belgian toymaker turned bomb maker.
Geoffrey Rush as Ephraim, the team's Mossad 'handler' gives a excellent supporting performance as does Gila Almagor as Avner's Mother and Ayelet Zurer as Daphna Kaufman, Avner's gorgeous, supportive wife. Other important roles are played by Mathieu Amalric as Louis and Michael Lonsdale as Papa, the Frenchmen (son & father) who feed information to Avner and his team and, paradoxically, information to those hunting them.
The film pulls no punches, showing the brutality and ethical dilemmas the team and those they hunt face. It's this very stance that apparently gained the film some hate from members of the Zionist Organisation of America, a highly pro-Israel group who were aghast at the Israeli's being portrayed as assassins. Unfortunately for them, it's a case of "if it quacks like a duck, it's a duck". These men hunt & kill a number of Palestinians without legal authority at the behest of their masters. Sounds pretty much a definition for an assassin to me. Equally galling to ZOA was the depiction of Palestinans as (gasp, shock) having families, feelings and even idealism and not being simple robotic fanatics.
It's this very honesty that gives the film it's true character. Suggesting neither good nor bad, but merely being.
Those looking for a historically accurate movie will be chagrined no doubt, but I've yet to see a movie that is a genuine truth rather than an ambiguous kaleidoscope of truth and artistic licence.
I have little or no hesitation in recommending this somewhat long movie to anyone looking for a thriller with much more depth that your average flick.