Satisfying on every level

Rating: Null/10 (10 February 2006)

Look at it first as pure entertainment, putting the serious subject matter aside just for the time being - a team is put together very secretly by the Israeli Government to track down and kill all the Munich killers on the loose all over Europe. An ensemble of experts carrying out a dangerous mission is such a familiar set up that is can be easily mishandled, out of complacency. Here, Spielberg shows why he is still the most popular director. Five guys carrying out one killing after another can be a very boring affair. What Spielberg has done is making every meticulous effort to ensure that the audience see something new in each sequence, be it variety of camera angles, mise en scene, pacing, story-telling. In-between the operations, there are plenty of scene with the five members debriefing, planning, discussing or simply relaxing. Imagine the countless frames that contain all five or a combination of some of them. There was not one single repetition of the positioning of these characters as far as I could see.
And I was also happy to find that the playful Spielberg is still there, albeit making way a lot for the serious Spielberg. But look at the scene when group leader Avner (Eric Bana) is conducting business with the French informant Louis (Mathieu Alamric) in an open-air café. Absorbed in the important discussion, the audience may not notice the ridiculous fact that Louis is counting a huge pile of dollar bills until Avner, quite suddenly, murmurs something to the effect that Louis shouldn't be doing this in public and tries to use some plastic wrappers to cover the money held in the latter's hands.
Purely on the level of an espionage thriller with a bit of a procedural nature, the movie works extremely well. But there is of course much more to "Munich", which has received a level of unanimous acclaim from professional critics that has not been seen for quite some time. It delves quite deep into the psyche of professional killers with various personalities, through an agonising journey from awkward hesitation to numb indifference. But that's not all. As the hunter becomes the hunted, numb indifference turns into nerve-wrecking paranoid. "Munich" is a treat for anyone interested in the psychology of the characters in a movie.
But then, there is still another level. In trying to tell the story of both the Jews and the Palestinians, Spielberg has incurred criticism form both said, so I understand. This can only mean that he has done an excellent job. He puts a lot of questions fairly on the table  does killing achieve anything, what is a home, how does one best serve one's country, is there a bottom line at all to violenceand all the time never forgetting to bring the audience back to the main theme, the senseless killings at Munich in 1972 that accomplished nothing except triggering more killings.
It's quite disappointing that "Munich" wasn't even nominated for the Screen Actors Guild's "Outstanding performance by a cast" award, because I think its ensemble is better even than the winners in "Crash".
Eric Bana's portrayal of the group leader Avner's anguishing mental journey is absolutely first class. Daniel Craig demonstrates that he can call up a bellyful of fire needed for hit man Steve, something he didn't get a chance to show in either "Sylvia" or "Enduring love", serving notice that he is up to the Bond job. Ciaran Hinds who was most impressive as the Russian president in "Sum of all fears" among his prolific screen work plays dependable Carl. German actor Hanns Zischler who bears a remarkable resemblance to Glenn Ford surprises us as stylish forger Hans, who shows that he is quite capable of acts of daring and violence towards the end. Little known actor Mathieu Kossovitz plays the appropriately subdued bomb "expert" Robert who turns out to be not so expert after all.
There's a lot more. Each and every one of the supporting characters is immensely watchable. Needing no introduction is talented Oscar winner ("Shine") Geoffrey Rich, who has quite a significant role as Avner's contact man from the Israeli Government. Another important character that has plenty of scenes with Avner is French informer Louis, played by Mathieu Amalric. Anyone who has seen the excellent French movie "Rois et reine" (Kings and queen) will remember how good this French actor is. Another top French star, director Francois Ozon's favourite Valeria Bruni Tedeschi ("5x2", "Le temps qui reste") has only a cameo role but is still good to see. Those who have seen the 2003 Oscar Best Foreign Language film "The barbarian invasions" should remember talented Canadian actress Marie-Josee Croze. In "Munich" she plays beautiful, deadly alluring Dutch assassin Jeanette. There are also Ayelet Zorer who plays Avner's loving wife Daphna, Michael Lonsdale who plays Louis' "Papa" and Lynn Cohen who would make you believe that it's Golda Meir plaing herself! Whatever you are looking for in a movie, you'll probably find "Munich" immensely satisfying.unless you happen to be looking for a romance comedy.