Crisis of Conscience Explored in Vivid, Thrilling Detail by Spielberg in a Moralistic Mode

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2006)

Confounding expectations, Steven Spielberg has directed a relentlessly tense thriller based on the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre and its aftermath that coalesces its often chilling, suspenseful elements into an almost "Godfather"-like family saga about the obligation of duty and the crisis of conscience. The epic 2005 film doesn't completely work, but the unpredictable nature of the film keeps the momentum going for most of its 162-minute running time. Spielberg, regardless, should be lauded for taking well-remembered historical events within their context and making them resonate in today's politically charged environment.
Co-written by the estimable Tony Kushner ("Angels in America") and Eric Roth from George Jonas's fictionalized book "Vengeance", the movie opens with the familiar archived footage of ABC sports commentator Jim McKay reporting on the Black September terrorists kidnapping eleven Israeli athletes at Munich's Olympic village only to be gunned down hours later at the airport. The story then focuses on an undercover commando team instigated confidentially by Israel's Prime Minister Golda Meir but officially disconnected from the Mossad, Israel's counterpart to the CIA. The motley group led by Avner Kaufman, Meir's former bodyguard and the son of a revered Israeli freedom fighter, is charged with finding the Palestinian terrorists responsible for the massacre and assassinating them one at a time. These are indeed acts of vengeance by a country who felt the need for respect as well as sympathy from a watchful global community, and the bulk of the movie is about how the team goes about with the killings.
I have to admit that there is a sense of movie convention in the characters who make up the team  Robert, the guilt-sticken bomb expert; Steve, the sometime intolerably cocky driver; Hans, the ice-cold documents forger; and Carl, the anxious "clean-up" man who by default, becomes the conscience of the group. However, the actors inhabiting the parts are all quite strong within these constraints, and there is particular standout work by Daniel Craig as Steve (he seems well poised to play James Bond in the roughhewn Connery manner) and Ciarán Hands as Carl. Alternating fluidly between coolly calculated actions and percolating indecisiveness and using his skills in the kitchen as a cathartic release, Eric Bana brings a soulful and increasingly haunting quality to Avner, the designated leader who somehow retains sympathy for his character while going about the business of killing. At times, he seems like an emotional cipher, but I think that helps in the story flow. And in fact, the complexities behind the politically motivated murders, which take place in a variety of exotic locations, are what drive the sometimes convoluted plot line.
Geoffrey Rush does a convincing Israeli accent as Avner's by-the-book Mossad contact, Ephraim, and Lynn Cohen  yes, Miranda's Eastern European maid, Magda, on "Sex in the City"  has a few effective moments at the beginning as the conflicted Meir. The movie, however, is not without its share of flaws. First, there is the red-herring use of a French contact with a father who is apparently legendary in the field of political intrigue and information peddling. While Mathieu Amalric and especially Michael Lonsdale give fine performances as Avner's contact, Louis, and his worldly father, their characters feel more like plot devices from another spy thriller entirely, especially as they expose their dysfunctional family set-up over lunch at a château to which Avner must be taken blindfolded. There is also a beautiful woman of mystery at a bar, which actually feels like it was cribbed from a similar scene in, of all movies, "The Sting". There is another flaw in the extended coda where I feel Spielberg misjudges the emotional parallels in the rather contrived cross-cutting between the athletes' killings and a bed scene between Avner and his wife.
Nonetheless, Spielberg is a master when it comes to the set-up of the action sequences, whether it's a plan that goes awry with a child returning unexpectedly home or a shooting spree near the docks of Beirut or the killing of a Palestinian passionate about his inextricable need for a homeland. Naturally, the post-9/11 atmosphere lends particular resonance to all these scenes, though credit Spielberg for not making an overtly political statement along these lines. As always, the craftsmanship behind the production is first-rate, in particular, Janusz Kaminski's dramatically lit cinematography and Michael Kahn's blistering editing. Make no mistake that Spielberg has most definitely made a morality picture about the unending cycle of violence in the Middle East and at the end of it, really doesn't take sides on the issue. Certainly the volatility of the topic has prevented a strong film from Hollywoodat least until Spielberg was willing to helm this one. Kudos for that move.