Saving Eric Bana

Rating: 10/10 (31 December 2005)

Steven Spielberg delves deeper into unabashed realism with this film. Like Saving Private Ryan, this film does not hesitate to explore the horrors of the human urge to violence. Perhaps, Spielberg is trying to warn us of the end of our tendencies toward revenge that in turn leads to not only the endless cycle of violence but also to the inevitable ruin of the psychological health of those entrusted with the revenge. Spielberg depicts the massacre of Jewish athletes in Munich during the 1972 Olympic Games to illustrate his point. Eric Bana plays a member of the Israeli Mossad, which is assigned by Golda Meir the task of revenge. However, Bana begins to doubt the wisdom of some of the assassinations and asks his commander why the Palestinians were not simply arrested and tried, as Eichmann was. The intricacies of secret assassinations are vividly depicted, including bombings and cleverly disguised guns and accidental killings (collateral casualties). Government sponsored assassinations are seen as a dangerous and nasty business. Bana continues his wonderful portrayal of the hero, following his portrayal of Hector in Troy. And Spielberg continues to show himself to be a master of realism, as well as fantasy.