Thoughtful and thought-provoking

Rating: 10/10 (24 December 2005)

Steven Spielberg creates a thoughtful and thought-provoking visual essay on the morality of revenge set against the 1972 massacre of Israeli athletes in Munich. Simplistic at times  understandably so, given the nature of the long and volatile history of the Middle East  the film effectively reduces the complex issue of Israel's territorial and sovereignty rights to a personal level. In a mesmerizing performance by Eric Bana who plays Avner, a Mossad agent contracted to hunt down those responsible for the atrocities in Munich, "Munich" unapologetically echoes the truth of the well-known apothegm: violence begets violence. A particularly worthy film  and a pleasant surprise from Mr. Spielberg.