A Debatable thriller

Rating: 9/10 (5 August 2010)

¨We are supposed to be righteous. That's a beautiful thing. And we're losing it. If I lose that, that's everything. That's my soul.¨ Munich is a very powerful and emotional movie that combines thrills with human drama. I went into this film expecting it to be simply a revenge movie, but it is much more than that; Spielberg doesn't take sides and brings a lot of interesting elements that open up the debate between Israel and Palestine and which country is really the enemy. Steven Spielberg is one of the greatest directors active in American cinema and he has directed several masterpieces, Schindler's List being perhaps the best one. Munich will probably not rank amongst his best work, but it's still a great and powerful film that required a lot of risks on Spielberg's part as a Jew because in Munich he never takes sides and by doing so both sides have declared him an enemy. The movie is based on George Jonas's book ¨Vengeance¨ and the screenplay was adapted by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth (Forrest Gump and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). The screenplay was beautifully written and also nominated for the Oscars along with four other categories (editing, directing, score, and best picture), although it went home empty handed. Those were probably the strongest elements the movie had, which was finely edited and the score really enhanced the film. I thought that there were also some very good performances from the cast, especially Eric Bana who gives his best performance to date, and Ciaran Hinds who also nails his role. Spielberg has only directed the fourth installment of Indiana Jones since Munich in 2005, but we will be hearing from him soon.
The film opens with the 1972 murders that took place in the Olympics of Munich. 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by a terrorist group called Black September. Munich focuses on what happened after these murders took place although there are several flashbacks during the movie returning to this attack. Prime Minister Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen) didn't negotiate with the terrorists and therefore the hostages were killed, but now she decides to allow for a black operation to take place in order to kill some of the men behind the planning of the 72 attack. They hire Avner (Eric Bana), a Mossad agent who had served as a bodyguard for Meir, to lead the assassination squad which consisted of five men. The other men hired for the job were Steve (Daniel Craig), the driver, Hans (Hanns Ziechler), an expert at forging false documents and passports, Carl (Ciaran Hinds), the man in charge of doing the clean up after the assassinations took place, and Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz), the bomb expert who knows more about dismantling them than creating one. The men resign from their official jobs and the Mossad and work as black operatives not tied to the government. They only receive a list of eleven men they have to kill and have to get the rest of intel on their own and work as a terrorist group and the only connection they have with the government is the payment they receive in the Bank and through a middle man named Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush). Avner contacts a man named Louis (Mathieu Amalric) who finds the location of almost every name given to him in exchange for a high price.
The movie begins very slow, but once the assassinations take place the thrills and suspense begin to play a big part in the film. This is not your average revenge film, it's much more than that. It opens ethical questions and dilemmas on several issues. Even the characters feel remorse for what they do and end up questioning if they are doing the right thing. Ephraim and Avner have very insightful conversations which open up the debate on this issue. It seems as if every murder that takes place is retaliated by the other group, and every leader that is murdered is replaced by a new one so the war will never end. Some leaders justify their actions by claiming it is the price to pay for building their home and having a land. Spielberg is very clever and doesn't take any sides in this movie, he doesn't justify the violence and makes you debate over who the true enemy really is. Munich is a very powerful film that relies on good direction from Spielberg and a solid performance from the entire cast. I really enjoyed this emotional thriller and it will leave you debating several issues.
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