Spielberg finally makes a 'great' movie

Rating: 10/10 (16 July 2006)

The comment titled "Half Cooked Masterpiece" by 'marcosaguado' on the IMDb website indicates that not everyone is going to understand this movie, despite Spielberg teaching the film's lessons gradually, ensuring viewers saw/understood/contemplated the moral dilemmas and questions raised by each action or situation before moving on to the next. I'm usually not a fan of Spielberg. Schindler was excellent, yes, but other films of his I find a little light- on, however Munich went far deeper than anything I've seen from him. It's by far his most nuanced film to date, near perfect, and extremely rich in imagery and symbolism for those with a keen eye for such things - take the KGB man crawling across the road desperately trying to get one more shot in before he dies, or the symbolism of the kitchen for Avner's character (he aspires to create a home with a big kitchen, but then his wife finds the new kitchen too big; the general excuse used for the film's conflict is to protect and acquire a true 'home', but in reality, such a quest has no end or ultimate point of satisfaction). Munich wasn't a thriller at all, as 'marcosaguado' wrote. If that's his opinion, he only saw the veil and not the beauty beneath. In fact, it wasn't really even about the Munich incident or its aftermath - it was about the moral questions behind the ongoing conflicts of the 20th and 21st century - namely the conflict within the middle east and also involving the USA, Australia, the UK and other parties who have helped to keep it going. And it's neither liberal nor conservative - it's about the need to try harder, to think clearer. Some of the film's main points were that at first we do think revenge is the best solution, but gradually as we think about the situation of all who are involved, things aren't so black and white. You could keep tracing causes of conflict back through history and never find the thrower of the first stone, the first point of blame, which is irrelevant anyway since no human living today was around then. It's also about not blindly trusting the leaders of your country simply due to loyalty, for all humans are fallible (the things which took place in this film stemmed from the Munich incident, yet also the decision of one woman, Golda Meir, and we can see now that her actions only led to reactions, with no possibility of peace). Then there's the revelation that both sides are fighting for the same thing - their home - so there's no way of saying whose motivations are more pure. And Ali, the PLO member who Avner speaks with in the safe house in Athens (and where we also see a micro conflict, with a sensible resolution, between a PLO and Mossad agent over which station the radio station should be tuned to - in the end they compromise) makes a great speech, admitting that he is an animal for what he does, but also makes a good point about the world being forced to think about the cages these animals are confined to. The Middle East disputes are a problematic conflict, as there is no good or bad, right or wrong - it's one big conundrum. The people who one side sees as terrorists in turn see their opponents as terrorists too. It's about perspectives and making an effort to understand them all before you can even think about trying to solve the disputes. Ultimately, the film is a big question - one that the leaders of the world need to start pondering - and certainly not an answer. It can point in the right direction, but it can't solve the world's problems, although it CAN say most definitely that the questions it raises are far more valuable and productive in the long term than the continuous eye-for-an-eye conflict we are plagued by today. The current self-absorbed, black-and-white thinking of George Bush, and practically every leader involved, will never lead to peace, only more conflict. Revenge brings revenge brings revenge brings revenge brings revenge... And if you think this movie is too long, you're either missing half of its messages, or you need to work at your attention span. It is the duty of all humans to start thinking deeply about what's going on, and unfortunately it's easy to say, "It's too hard. I don't want to." Munich is by far one of the most important films I've seen, and absolutely engaging from beginning to end. Now that the Academy has failed to recognise this with an award, it's safe to say the institution is irrelevant. To nominate Joaquin Phoenix over Eric Bana? That makes no sense. Walk The Line was so shallow I wanted to scream and I'm glad Johnny Cash never lived to see it. He'd have been appalled at being reduced to so little. To name Crash best film over this? Give me a freaking break...