the other side of Spielberg's paradigm

Rating: 8/10 (19 February 2006)

The Jews had always been recipient to numerous conflicts and atrocities since the ages of antiquity. They had been involved in slavery, territorial conflicts, racial discrimination and struggle, religious controversies and several other misunderstanding; and for that the Jews are considered to be the most sensationalized race in this world.
The most often miserable fate of the Jews has countlessly been re-portrayed in film and has captured considerable sympathizers. Since the Jews had been in conflict with different races and countries, their never-ending history of war is not anymore new to the world. And movies with their struggle against countries like Egypt, Greece, Rome and Germany have continually haunted every audience.
It's expected that if it's a Stephen Spielberg movie that it's always disturbing and moving at the same time. It's always elevated to 'Art' status and will never fail to influence the audience because of its natural feel and transcending direction and cinematography – cinema that gets through your veins and drags you into feeling the real experience.
While Spielberg had been fascinated in filming his kin's dreadful experiences in the past as the victims and losers of human abomination, Munich however gives us another perspective where the usual victims no longer play as martyrs but vengeful heroes of their own race. The story is a deviation to the usual portrayal of the Jews' martyrdom and exposes their innate nature for revenge.
Spielberg didn't reside on what just actually happened on the Munich Olympics hostage tragedy and its aftermath but he tried to depict the characters' dilemma on their given assignments since the predefined missions were not really clear and pure. Although the veil of nationalism and justice was the major pretext of their elders, Avner was caught between conspiracies he had no clue of and would somehow fail to understand unless his elders feed him the truth. The already sensationalized history of the Arab-Israeli conflict has smoothly shifted to the dilemma of the character and his allies, giving us a point of view that we need to reconsider and reflect.
It's again a masterpiece and one could just imagine how Spielberg was able to harmonize and give rhythm to a number of short scenes on the movie to create an overall theme of pure drama and portrayal of the effects of the Black September tragedy in Munich to the individuals related and to the world.