1972 comes to life

Rating: 7/10 (6 December 2005)

Everyone is a victim in Steven Spielberg's latest - the Olympic athletes, the Palestians who take them hostage, the Israelis who devote their lives to avenging the incident. Everyone wants their home and family. Spielberg takes his familiar themes into new territory, striving hard to maintain a neutral tone even while depicting horrifying carnage. The film-makers may succeed in raising the debate about peace in the Middle East with strong performances revealing awkward and arbitrary responses to bloodshed. Eric Bana leaps off the screen and leads an ensemble cast in perhaps his meatiest role since Chopper. His Mossad agent character becomes more and more believable as his smooth veneer is quickly worn down. Jumping from city to city, the film credibly holds the period in focus with over a hundred speaking parts and convincing accents from the International cast. I heard one Israeli viewer questioning whether Aussies Bana and Rush were dubbed (the answer was no). 1972, sideburns and all, comes to life in the film through newsreels and exquisite production design. If there is anything that holds this back from being a great film, it's a few uncertain shifts between awkward humour, boys own action and noble, but somewhat blatant, efforts to balance Israeli and Arab concerns. The film works best as a fascinating tribute to the law of diminishing returns from the Arab-Israeli conflict without any suggestions of how the conflict as a whole could be resolved. Munich is not what you would call entertainment, nor is it 100% clear who its audience is, but a good film nonetheless. The case for the State of Palestine has a new celluloid chapter and a surprising ally.