Engaging Throughout, But Far From a Masterpiece

Rating: 7/10 (2 April 2017)

Set at the 1972 Olympics emanating from Munich, Germany, Palestinian terrorists close in on the Olympic village targeting at the Israeli athletes making them hostages, while a massive shoot-out at the airport leaves several terrorists dead and all the athletes who only wanted to compete against others thriving to capture some medals, only to be left out with lives lost and hearts broken. Stunned by such tragic events, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen) sends Mossad agent Avner Kaufman (Eric Bana loosely based off of real character Yuval Aviv), under the supervision of Case Officer Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush) to take down the 11 Palestinians who were involved in the chaos. Avner is accompanied by South African driver named Steve (Daniel Craig), a Belgian toy-maker turned bomb expert named Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz), an Israeli soldier and cleaner named Carl (Ciaran Hinds) and a Danish forger named Hans (Hanns Zischler). Together, they are met with a secretive French informant named Louis (Mathieu Amalric). Avner puts his mission in question as he abandons his pregnant wife wondering if he'll survive or perish.
No question about it, "Munich" will have you pondering, but the focus at times falls off kilter with a ridiculous continuity error with poor soul falling dead on his chest by being annihilated by a large bag of shopping in the lift lobby of his apartment domain. It was such a wonderful scene, it needed to be shown again. And then I ask myself, why? It was kind of distracting me for a while until some scenes later when publicly orchestrated discussions from various alliances are situated in cafes, bookstores, the streets you name it, they're omnipresent. What's odd is that although they're supposed to be secretive, they're out in the public spectrum where passersby can see and hear what they're talking about.
This is what I mean by off kilter direction and editing. It really questions the focus of the people behind the camera. Although we're heard ahead of time that that the film was based on actual events, but it's complex to determine which events are real and which stuff are for dramatization. Unless you lived the moment, we don't know the whole story. And I should not be sitting here chomping away at continuity errors or awkward shots, I should put emphasis on the more logical measures the Israeli's should have done to the Palestinians besides the eye-for-an-eye revenge. The logical measures could have had the Israeli's capture the terrorists and exploit them on live television in front of millions of people for the scumbags they really are.
The whole concept of espionage is met with welcomed interest, especially the scenes by members of the clan led by the well cultivated Louis (played by the talented Amalric), the only person who hold the key to the whereabouts of the Palestinians behind the carnage. Michael Lonsdale was superb in his performance as Louis' Papa further elucidates the divergences that penetrate in this environment where their lives are always by the numbers.
The main star of this film is Mossad agent Anver (Eric Bana) and I have a bit of curiosity when it comes to casting. As good as they are why did Steven Spielberg cast Australian performers like Eric Bana as Avner and Geoffrey Rush as his Case officer Ephraim? With the cultural intensity as heavy as this it's mandatory for specific cultural casting. My assumption lead me to believe that Aussies are easy to cast and speak fluent English and can adapt to any accent thrown at them. For better casting I would have cast Israeli actor Lior Ashkenazi to play a Mossad agent just like he did in Eytan Fox's brilliant film "Walk on Water".
It's enigmatic to pinpoint which parts of this movie are factual and which parts are fantasy. The editing is highly questionable. I don't think vengeful killings will resolve any peace within Palestine and Israel. And even though this movie will keep you intrigued it still went on for too long. A lot of that lengthy time's energy sparks a ton of awkward moments.
If you want to see a great film based on this interesting event. I would suggest the wonderful Kevin McDonald Oscar winning documentary from 2000, "One Day in September". The stories there are accurate and the interview with the lone surviving Palestinian was provocative.