grainy thriller of conscience

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 2006)

Saw "Munich" today between rain storms. Bloody, like its subject. Pointless? No. The movie (about revenge and reprisals after a terrorist attack at the 1972 Olympics) seems to say that all this bickering, murdering and back-and-forth escalation betrays an attachment to tribalism rather than tolerance and understanding. Its subject seems pointless for those of us who have no real say in it, and who don't understand patriotism at all costs. And I really think we have no say. How are we involved in this conflict of hate? Because no matter how we vote, it is pointless. Humanity muddles on. Many of us continue to arbitrarily choose our teams.
Because the film never concludes, and can't conclude, we can only judge it as a polished production with excellent acting and seamless editing. Even as the killings begin to seem redundant, as the sequences of plotting and execution pile on, we must admit that this is the real deal; it is exactly what we are going through--the same sequence of violence begetting violence day after day in Iraq, in the Middle East, in the world.
There are some odd sex scenes in "Munich" telescoped by a moment in "Schindler's List" that made my mother flinch; but to me, Oskar Schindler's intercourse seems redemptive in that movie, as if he is clinging to life amidst death; but in this new movie, the sex has the effect of distancing us from the main character at a crucial point, because the assassin can't get violent images out of his head while he's attempting pleasure. I don't think the moment is inappropriate, but I think it could be misconstrued as a scene of mere propagation: he is creating a new soldier for the fight. I don't think that's what's going on. His wife covers his eyes afterward. She knows he is not seeing her, so she blinds him to regain his attention.
I knew what the last shot of this movie would be. That is, long before the movie ended, I guessed what the last shot would inevitably include, and yet still it works.