Munich – A review from a movie watcher of the ‘Steven Spielberg era
Published by Mysorean on Saturday, May 20, 2006 at 12:13:00 am.
Review has been written by a friend of mine - Mr. Damodharan. A senior of mine from B-School. He can be contacted at damodharanu@yahoo.com
Every time the world gets bored of pop corn flicks like War of the worlds, Minority Report, Artificial Intelligence Steven Spielberg comes up with his trademark flick that leaves his imprint strongly. Be it Saving Private Ryan or Jurassic Park or Schindler's List.
This time it is 'Munich'. I would say its one of the toughest in the director's career and perhaps the most anguished. One of those Hollywood fictions that seems to stupefy those who miss the nuance in the words "inspired by real events."
Based on the controversial book 'Vengeance' by George Jonas, the movie is based on the real life incident of the aftermath of murder of eleven Israeli athletes by a Palestinian terrorist group 'Black September' at the Munich Olympics. It portrays both sides without leaning to either of them.
The movie kick starts with a scene where Palestinians enter the dormitory of the athletes in the Olympiad at Munich. They take both the Israeli athletes and the coaches as hostages. A catastrophic showdown emerges shortly after that in which all the Israelis get killed. The movie then traverses back to the house of the Israeli Prime minister Golda Meir where 'Avner' a former Mossad agent who is coerced to take up the task of tracking and hunting the men behind the terrorist attacks are present along with others. The task will mean that Avner will have assistance in terms of man power and money but if being caught, Israel would deny their very existence itself.
Avner leaves Jerusalem and his wife and travels to Europe. There, he meets his team members, Steve (Daniel Craig), Carl (Ciaran Hinds), Hans (Hanns Zischler) and Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz). A team comprising a bomb expert, work the books, a man good with guns, and a cleaner to wipe the loose ends as the team progresses in executing the task. They find out that 'Black September’, a group of Eleven people has planned the attack. All eleven of them are in Europe and hence Avner & his team has to stay as long as it takes in Europe and kill all of them. Avner has no idea where to start. He goes to Frankfurt to meet an old friend 'Louis' who knows someone who knows someone etc which leads to the first amongst the eleven getting killed. Avner gets going with Louis, (Mathieu Amalric). Louis is expensive though consistent and provides the information for Avner's hit squad. Avner's team starts leaving a trail of corpses In the end his team accomplish the task clinically though they are also targeted by the PLOs. Only Avner survives till the end.
The movie then revolves around Avner's character - the emotions, the paranoia, the emotional stress he undergoes during the executions. He along with his team really face conflict within themselves as the executions kill bystanders and innocent people who just come their way. The movie has lot of dialogues difficult to pay attention to though they are powerful. Spielberg brings out the ‘Israel-Palestine’ issue like ‘opening a bottle of colored liquid and spills in on the floor'. Leaves it there. A different touch Spielberg has given to the movie. He does not attempt to give any solution instead throws light on the issue from different angles trying to making the issue clearer"
Avner leaves Jerusalem and his wife and travels to Europe. There, he meets his team members, Steve (Daniel Craig), Carl (Ciaran Hinds), Hans (Hanns Zischler) and Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz). A team comprising a bomb expert, work the books, a man good with guns,
and a cleaner to wipe the loose ends as the team progresses in executing the task. They find out that 'Black September’, a group of Eleven people has planned the attack. All eleven of them are in Europe and hence Avner & his team has to stay as long as it takes in Europe and kill all of them. Avner has no idea where to start. He goes to Frankfurt to meet an old friend 'Louis' who knows someone who knows someone etc which leads to the first amongst the eleven getting killed. Avner gets going with Louis, (Mathieu Amalric). Louis is expensive though consistent and provides the information for Avner's hit squad. Avner's team starts leaving a trail of corpses In the end his team accomplish the task clinically though they are also targeted by the PLOs. Only Avner survives till the end.
The movie then revolves around Avner's character - the emotions, the paranoia, the emotional stress he undergoes during the executions. He along with his team really face conflict within themselves as the executions kill bystanders and innocent people who just come their way.
The movie has lot of dialogues difficult to pay attention to though they are powerful. Spielberg brings out the ‘Israel-Palestine’ issue like ‘opening a bottle of colored liquid and spills in on the floor'. Leaves it there. A different touch Spielberg has given to the movie. He does not attempt to give any solution instead throws light on the issue from different angles trying to making the issue clearer.
In one of his interviews, I remember Steven Spielberg mention "I guess as I grow older, I just feel more responsibility for telling the stories that have some kind of larger meaning…as I get older, I feel the burden of responsibility that comes along with such a powerful tool. I certainly have made movies by popular demand. There is a distinction between moviemaking and filmmaking. I want to do both." I believe, though direction is tight, the movie is a bit slow. The intelligent audience would have to decide whether the responses from Israelis are 'counter-terrorism' or 'retaliation'. Spielberg also hammers down an emotional punch down our throat by making Guri Weinberg act in the movie. Guri Weinberg plays Moshe Weinberg the Israeli wrestling referrer and former wrestling champion who died in the massacre. Spielberg is too unwilling and seldom cringes to exercise his ideological sureties in his movies"
Steven Spielberg has a team of the best in the world. 73 year old Michael Kahn as editor, 50 year old Janus Kamunski, 70 year old John Williams. They almost produce 'perfections' every time. In the next generations to come, people who get trained in film production institutes should have syllabus covering works from this team. To begin with, 'Direction'. The movie is too powerful with Spielberg trying to balance between tragedy and revenge, ethics and politics, diplomacy and emotion.
Camerawork is geometric. Be it the verdant France or the bleached outskirts of Israel. Its presented beautifully. Scenes where the hand held cameras are used to capture the events to make it more realistic are breathtaking. Looks so simple yet gargantuan. The killings are carried out in various European capitals -Rome, Paris, Cyprus, Beirut and Athens. The camera takes the users back to the European capitals of the 1970s. In the climax where a discussion happens between two guys, the camera is pulled back and in the back ground we see the twin towers in the backdrop. Sometimes such elegant shots also show the truthfulness behind the theme the movie carries.
Editing is strong. To say it is strong it was felt. It would be beyond considerable sense to comment on Michael Kahn's editing.
Munich is his best I would say until his next movie comes.
Screenplay is by Tony Kushner (Angels in America) and Eric Roth (Forrest Gump). Tough job though the length of the movie is really a backdraw. To maintain the importance of the theme, the screenplay looks stretched a little too far.
‘Music’. John Williams should remember 2005 for a long time. He had 4 releases – ‘War of the worlds’, ‘Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith’, ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ and ‘Munich’. Munich would be remembered for its uniqueness. 'A Prayer for peace' would not only stand to embrace the history of the tragedy that happened in 1972 but would stand to honour the mourning for the members of the Israeli team. The piano piece during the end credits will be one of this bests.
Screenplay is by Tony Kushner (Angels in America) and Eric Roth (Forrest Gump). Tough job though the length of the movie is really a backdraw. To maintain the importance of the theme, the screenplay looks stretched a little too far.
However being a Steven Spielberg fan I feel that he can make an epic in no time with his resources. It appears to me that the movie had to be rushed to get it released before Oscars. Well people make mistakes. Even extraordinary people. Even Spielberg. Spielberg does one with the length of the movie.
Though Munich is not the best of the movies ever made. It may not be the best of the 'boringly reliable' Steven Spielberg. Yet it would be a significant movie in the list of movies every made. Quite unparralleled. Just because of the theme of the movie and how it thrives to stick to it.
Every time the world gets bored of pop corn flicks like War of the worlds, Minority Report, Artificial Intelligence Steven Spielberg comes up with his trademark flick that leaves his imprint strongly. Be it Saving Private Ryan or Jurassic Park or Schindler's List.
This time it is 'Munich'. I would say its one of the toughest in the director's career and perhaps the most anguished. One of those Hollywood fictions that seems to stupefy those who miss the nuance in the words "inspired by real events."
Based on the controversial book 'Vengeance' by George Jonas, the movie is based on the real life incident of the aftermath of murder of eleven Israeli athletes by a Palestinian terrorist group 'Black September' at the Munich Olympics. It portrays both sides without leaning to either of them.
The movie kick starts with a scene where Palestinians enter the dormitory of the athletes in the Olympiad at Munich. They take both the Israeli athletes and the coaches as hostages. A catastrophic showdown emerges shortly after that in which all the Israelis get killed. The movie then traverses back to the house of the Israeli Prime minister Golda Meir where 'Avner' a former Mossad agent who is coerced to take up the task of tracking and hunting the men behind the terrorist attacks are present along with others. The task will mean that Avner will have assistance in terms of man power and money but if being caught, Israel would deny their very existence itself.
Avner leaves Jerusalem and his wife and travels to Europe. There, he meets his team members, Steve (Daniel Craig), Carl (Ciaran Hinds), Hans (Hanns Zischler) and Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz). A team comprising a bomb expert, work the books, a man good with guns, and a cleaner to wipe the loose ends as the team progresses in executing the task. They find out that 'Black September’, a group of Eleven people has planned the attack. All eleven of them are in Europe and hence Avner & his team has to stay as long as it takes in Europe and kill all of them. Avner has no idea where to start. He goes to Frankfurt to meet an old friend 'Louis' who knows someone who knows someone etc which leads to the first amongst the eleven getting killed. Avner gets going with Louis, (Mathieu Amalric). Louis is expensive though consistent and provides the information for Avner's hit squad. Avner's team starts leaving a trail of corpses In the end his team accomplish the task clinically though they are also targeted by the PLOs. Only Avner survives till the end.
The movie then revolves around Avner's character - the emotions, the paranoia, the emotional stress he undergoes during the executions. He along with his team really face conflict within themselves as the executions kill bystanders and innocent people who just come their way. The movie has lot of dialogues difficult to pay attention to though they are powerful. Spielberg brings out the ‘Israel-Palestine’ issue like ‘opening a bottle of colored liquid and spills in on the floor'. Leaves it there. A different touch Spielberg has given to the movie. He does not attempt to give any solution instead throws light on the issue from different angles trying to making the issue clearer"
Avner leaves Jerusalem and his wife and travels to Europe. There, he meets his team members, Steve (Daniel Craig), Carl (Ciaran Hinds), Hans (Hanns Zischler) and Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz). A team comprising a bomb expert, work the books, a man good with guns,
and a cleaner to wipe the loose ends as the team progresses in executing the task. They find out that 'Black September’, a group of Eleven people has planned the attack. All eleven of them are in Europe and hence Avner & his team has to stay as long as it takes in Europe and kill all of them. Avner has no idea where to start. He goes to Frankfurt to meet an old friend 'Louis' who knows someone who knows someone etc which leads to the first amongst the eleven getting killed. Avner gets going with Louis, (Mathieu Amalric). Louis is expensive though consistent and provides the information for Avner's hit squad. Avner's team starts leaving a trail of corpses In the end his team accomplish the task clinically though they are also targeted by the PLOs. Only Avner survives till the end.
The movie then revolves around Avner's character - the emotions, the paranoia, the emotional stress he undergoes during the executions. He along with his team really face conflict within themselves as the executions kill bystanders and innocent people who just come their way.
The movie has lot of dialogues difficult to pay attention to though they are powerful. Spielberg brings out the ‘Israel-Palestine’ issue like ‘opening a bottle of colored liquid and spills in on the floor'. Leaves it there. A different touch Spielberg has given to the movie. He does not attempt to give any solution instead throws light on the issue from different angles trying to making the issue clearer.
In one of his interviews, I remember Steven Spielberg mention "I guess as I grow older, I just feel more responsibility for telling the stories that have some kind of larger meaning…as I get older, I feel the burden of responsibility that comes along with such a powerful tool. I certainly have made movies by popular demand. There is a distinction between moviemaking and filmmaking. I want to do both." I believe, though direction is tight, the movie is a bit slow. The intelligent audience would have to decide whether the responses from Israelis are 'counter-terrorism' or 'retaliation'. Spielberg also hammers down an emotional punch down our throat by making Guri Weinberg act in the movie. Guri Weinberg plays Moshe Weinberg the Israeli wrestling referrer and former wrestling champion who died in the massacre. Spielberg is too unwilling and seldom cringes to exercise his ideological sureties in his movies"
Steven Spielberg has a team of the best in the world. 73 year old Michael Kahn as editor, 50 year old Janus Kamunski, 70 year old John Williams. They almost produce 'perfections' every time. In the next generations to come, people who get trained in film production institutes should have syllabus covering works from this team. To begin with, 'Direction'. The movie is too powerful with Spielberg trying to balance between tragedy and revenge, ethics and politics, diplomacy and emotion.
Camerawork is geometric. Be it the verdant France or the bleached outskirts of Israel. Its presented beautifully. Scenes where the hand held cameras are used to capture the events to make it more realistic are breathtaking. Looks so simple yet gargantuan. The killings are carried out in various European capitals -Rome, Paris, Cyprus, Beirut and Athens. The camera takes the users back to the European capitals of the 1970s. In the climax where a discussion happens between two guys, the camera is pulled back and in the back ground we see the twin towers in the backdrop. Sometimes such elegant shots also show the truthfulness behind the theme the movie carries.
Editing is strong. To say it is strong it was felt. It would be beyond considerable sense to comment on Michael Kahn's editing.
Munich is his best I would say until his next movie comes.
Screenplay is by Tony Kushner (Angels in America) and Eric Roth (Forrest Gump). Tough job though the length of the movie is really a backdraw. To maintain the importance of the theme, the screenplay looks stretched a little too far.
‘Music’. John Williams should remember 2005 for a long time. He had 4 releases – ‘War of the worlds’, ‘Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith’, ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ and ‘Munich’. Munich would be remembered for its uniqueness. 'A Prayer for peace' would not only stand to embrace the history of the tragedy that happened in 1972 but would stand to honour the mourning for the members of the Israeli team. The piano piece during the end credits will be one of this bests.
Screenplay is by Tony Kushner (Angels in America) and Eric Roth (Forrest Gump). Tough job though the length of the movie is really a backdraw. To maintain the importance of the theme, the screenplay looks stretched a little too far.
However being a Steven Spielberg fan I feel that he can make an epic in no time with his resources. It appears to me that the movie had to be rushed to get it released before Oscars. Well people make mistakes. Even extraordinary people. Even Spielberg. Spielberg does one with the length of the movie.
Though Munich is not the best of the movies ever made. It may not be the best of the 'boringly reliable' Steven Spielberg. Yet it would be a significant movie in the list of movies every made. Quite unparralleled. Just because of the theme of the movie and how it thrives to stick to it.
