Thrilling and Deep

Rating: 9/10 (10 July 2008)

One of the reasons I like listening to George Carlin is because he examines big themes that encompass all of society, like war and racism, but also themes that concern individuals, right down to "people who use quotation marks in the air while they're talking." A similar thing draws me to Munich. Munich is about the conflict in Israel, but it is also about how a few men handle being assassins, and how one man handles having some of his closest friends killed. I really liked how there were a bunch of scenes where people died, but the death isn't dramatized or slowed down. It almost happens faster than you expect, which creates a good effect. Munich also does a good job of not being preachy. I think Spielberg said something like "10 people could walk into this movie and come out thinking 10 different things about what it said about the Israel conflict." Spielberg does a good job of giving a voice to a lot of the viewpoints surrounding the conflict but not hitting you over the head with any them, letting you wrestle with them. The events in the movie seemed to say "This is real. People are going to die senselessly no matter what course of action is taken," but they didn't seem to be trying to pushing you to one side of the issue. Definitely a solid movie.
A minor point: The Mosad in real life is the most advanced intelligence agency in the world. The Mosad in this movie is pretty f**king stupid.