Movie Reviews
There is much to admire in Steven Spielberg’s “Munich.”
In September 1972, Munich was hosting the Olympics. As the film indicates, a group of Palestinian terrorists calling themselves Black September took a group of Israeli athletes hostage. A conflict unfolded inside an airport when members of the German army tried to charge the radicals in a desperate attempt to save the hostages. In the moments after, all 11 Israelis were dead along with some of the Palestinians.
Spielberg shows this happen, but in short increments. The film opens with the terrorists infiltrating the hotel where the Israelis are sleeping. Then we get caught up in the media frenzy. Journalists from a dozen countries stand by outside the airport and report live to the world as gunfire and explosions erupt just out of sight of the cameras. What they see is what we see.
Swiftly, we meet the film’s hero, Avner – in an astonishing performance by Eric Bana. Avner is a Jew of German decent, but makes his home in Israel. His wife is well along in her pregnancy when Avner is called up by the Prime Minister (Lynn Cohen) and Israel’s top military officials for a mission that he cannot discuss with even his wife. He is to lead a five-man team across Europe to track down and assassinate eleven Palestinians who had a role in the planning of the Munich massacre. First, though, Avner is erased from the face of the earth. He is no longer allowed to talk to any of those same officials to ensure that he cannot be tracked. In payment of this mission – one that eventually lasts many months – Avner is to report to a bank periodically to open a lock box filled with cash. Some goes to him, some to his men, some to anyone who can help them find the men their looking for.
The first time all five team members meet is in a central safe house. They sit down to a fine meal prepared by Avner, an experienced, amateur chef, and discuss, also for the first time, the details of the mission. We learn that one of them, Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz), makes and sells toy dolls for a living. But for this mission, he’ll be constructing bombs. It’s the same story for all of them – none of them are assassins at heart; their simply doing this because their country says it must be done. Carl (Ciaran Hinds) sets their relationships into motion when he says, “It is strange to think of oneself as an assassin.” Anver answers, “Think of yourself as something else, then.” Spielberg’s direction
From there we follow the men to Rome where they meet an inside source that has ties to people who have the locations of some of the name on the list. Their first job demonstrates how unprepared they really are for the reality of what the mission asks of them. In finding their first target, Avner and Robert make hardly any sensible decisions in the killing – they both hesitate, maybe because their scared, or because they hope the other will actually pull the trigger. The suspense rises as Avner and Robert start sharing dialog right there, asking each other what they should do.
When the deed is done, the five men buy drinks and relax. Carl hopes that this is out of rejoicing. But Steve (Daniel Craig), ignoring the fact that despite the killing being a success, it was still a kill, insists that it is pure celebration. Carl and Hans (Hanns Zischler), the two older members of the team take the most heed to the affect that this business of killing may well have on all of them by the end.
One-by-one, a name is checked off the list, and one-by-one a successor takes the place of the person they’ve just killed. The men realize this and begin questioning the validity of the entire mission. Anver reasons that despite the elimination of these terrorists, others rise up in their place, and that the fighting won’t end for a hundred years as it stands. Some Israelis find that estimation optimistic.
As always, Spielberg and his cinematographer Janusz Kaminski blend realism and style seamlessly, achieving a happening-right-now feel. And as always, the god-among-composers, John Williams has created a rousing, emotional symphony acting as suspense, acting as tragedy, acting as tribute.
“Munich” was written by longtime author, first-time screenwriter Tony Kusher and veteran Eric Roth (“Forrest Gump”) based on the book Vengeance. The two suggest nothing that warrants the film pro-anything, especially Israel or Palestine. Spielberg is telling a story that shows us what may have happened amongst the Israeli assassins that took part in these acts of revenge. He shows us how intensely paranoid each member became, how easy it became for them to doubt their own hard efforts, how the work of an assassin does not always render the outcome desired.
Politics aside, “Munich” also works just as a pure spy film. We’re shown the underground efforts of treachery disguised as loyalty. It’s good to see that a director is able to make painful stories like these entertaining and involving. Spielberg portrays all the grit with the same realism as he did on “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan.” He directs with an urgency that shows his characters as real-life human beings who did something simply because they were asked to. One of this year’s very best. ****