Eric Bana- Avner
Daniel Craig- Steve
Ciaran Hinds- Carl
Mathieu Kassovitz- Robert
Hanns Zischler- Hans
Ayelet Zorer- Daphna
Geoffrey Rush- Ephraim
Mathieu Amalric- Louis
Michael Lonsdale- Papa
Lynn Cohen- Golda Meir
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, based on the book Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas
Distributed by DreamWorks and Universal Pictures
Rated R for strong graphic violence, some sexual content, nudity and language
Runtime- about 3 hours
Website: http://www. munichmovie.com/
1972.
Munich, Germany.
The Olympics.
The Olympic Village, where the athletes live during the games.
Members of the Palestinian group "Black September" lay siege to the building housing the Israeli athletes and take them all hostage. Via television, the world watches the ongoing standoff. What are the authorities going to do? Black September releases a list of demands. They get helicoptered to the airport, still holding the Israeli athletes. They all arrive at the airport.
Ambush!
Gunfire erupts.
A desperate Black September member drops a grenade in one of the helicopters.
Boom!
More gunfire.
Panic. Pain.
Destruction.
In the end, as the ABC television network Olympic host says, the Israelis, "They're all gone."
More dead Israelis. More dead Jews. Something has to be done.
Something.
Anything.
The world must understand that Israel has a right to exist, that Israelis are not going to allow themselves to be pushed around, shot, killed, and blown up without significant retaliation. Israel cannot, will not look or be weak. Ever again. Never again. And that's how the screen story for "Munich," Steven Spielberg's latest flick, starts. It's a fast paced, thrilling opening that surprisingly doesn't really prepare you for the deliberate, contemplative story of one man's lost soul in defense of what he is punctuated by brutal Walter Hill like scenes of violence.
Eric Bana is Avner, a Mossad (Israeli secret service and intelligence) agent highly regarded by the Prime Minister Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen) and the nation's military generals. Avner has been picked to lead a secret team of assassins charged with eliminating eleven people believed to have participated in Munich. Avner is hesitant to accept. He's got a pregnant wife (Daphna, played by Ayelet Zorder) and a chance at a "normal" family life, something he missed as a child. But, then again, his government, his country is calling for him. Perhaps by doing this job things will eventually get better for him and for Israel (it's a sincere hope that he knows he's going to struggle with, since this secret assignment is likely to take several months, perhaps years). Avner accepts. He gets a full on briefing by Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush) on the operational specifics and hooks up with the four other team members (Daniel Craig as Steve, Ciaran Hinds as Carl, Mathieu Kassovitz as Robert, and Hans Zischler as Hans). They each have their specialties and are just as gung ho about this mission as Avner (well, basically they all are. They're all there, breaking bread with one another and explaining why they agreed to sign up). And so off they go to take down the dastardly eleven.
The team tracks each target, getting information from local sources (most notably from a Frenchman named Louis, played by Mathieu Amalric, who asks them if they are operating as government agents, which they actually are but are not officially. It matters later. Louis doesn't like working for governments) and then figuring out how to kill the target. Ephraim stressed to Avner earlier that they should use bombs to kill their targets as bombs send a stronger message to the world than just blowing someone away (which the team actually does on its first job). The team wipes out three targets before getting information that is out of the predetermined scope of their mission. Ephraim told them that they were not to operate inside Arab countries, that if they received any good information on one of the eleven living or operating in an Arab country to let the army handle it. The team argues that this effort, this struggle is theirs and they should be allowed to complete it, that if a commando unit is send to Beirut to deal with targets there they want to go with them. Ephraim eventually relents and the team goes into Beirut.
The Israeli commandoes are quick, efficient, and deadly. But as in war, all war, there is "collateral damage." Some innocent people die, chewed up by machine gun fire and flying metal. Avner starts to question, just a little, the mission he has accepted. Is this good? Is this necessary? The further and further the team gets into the list, the more dangerous it becomes. The conversations, which earlier were made in conjunction with quiet celebrations on a successful job, become more and more hostile. Is it a good idea to keep doing this, to become a "terrorist," perhaps not so much in motivation but in action? How much further is this going to go?
This is a long movie, almost three hours. At times it seems as though it's moving slow, or that it should be moving quicker. Spielberg spends quite a bit of time going through the minutia of assassination preparation, and we are able to get into the minds of the characters at a deeper level than had the movie been trimmed about a half hour. This reviewer is always in favor of cutting stuff and making a movie move quicker and get to its point. People in general are just not going to sit through a three hour story when they can go see two movies in that amount of time. What the heck is so important that Big Steve here needs this amount of time? Truthfully, it doesn't really matter whether or not this story is true to the facts of the actual Munich massacre, or if it has anything remotely relevant to say about current events (it does, but general moviegoers, at least this reviewer believes, don't necessarily go to movies to have their beliefs reaffirmed. They go to see a movie because it looks good. The only people who give a hooey about this meaning stuff are reviewers and, in this case, those politically inclined to be for and against whatever they think Spielberg is trying to say). Does the movie "play?" Yes, it does. Should it be trimmed? Again, probably. But would this reviewer do it? Demand it? Nope. Right now, it's good at what it does. And if you're really into meaning, what this movie is trying to say, go back and look at Charles Bronson's "Death Wish" series and see the same sentiment expressed. Yeah, revenge will get you what you need right now, it will make you feel good and make you feel as though justice has been done. In the end, though, all it does is curse you, because no matter what, the bad thing that happened to you is never going to leave you. There is no personal catharsis, maybe at least until you begin to see things differently.
Eric Bana is excellent as the lead character Avner. His transformation from a rough and ready go to assassination agent to a bitter destroyed human being is dang good enough for whatever awards are coming up. He is that good. Daniel Craig's Steve is the one constant in the movie. He never once gives up on the cause and says towards the end that the only thing he "cares about is Jewish blood." This guy is in it for the long haul no matter what, always a faithful warrior. He seems like a more natural choice for the leadership role of the team (he asks why Avner is leading the team when they first meet) and, at the end of the story, you probably think a guy like him is going to lead any future missions because he isn't going to fall apart on you. This is a cool performance all around. This reviewer hopes he works out as the next James Bond.
Ciaran Hinds, Carl, a veteran of the Six Day War, is the first one to question outright if the operation is working. He's the constant questioner in the story, the one who probably planted the seed of doubt in Avner. This guy looks like a fatter Alan Rickman, and when in costume looks like he belongs in the 1970's. This is a great supporting performance that probably won't get recognized because of, shall we say, an embarrassing bit of nudity (mostly for the audience. It's a scene that does serve a purpose for a later scene with a smoking naked Dutch woman, but, even in shadow… watch it and find out). Mathieu Kassovitz's Robert is another great supporting performance. He's a toymaker with bomb making experience that has to come up with the, well, bombs to kill their targets. He seems like such a non fit for this kind of work, and, much like Avner, slowly loses his sanity and questions whether or not his soul can handle the job at hand. The man is also a Tinker toy genius. How quaint.
Geoffrey Rush's Ephraim is the supporting character that will get the biggest recognition, mostly because he's such a good guy heartless bastard. You totally understand what he's thinking, what he's feeling, and you don't question his beliefs up to a point. You do begin to wonder whether or not this guy is ever going to allow his soul to show. An amazing experience. And then there's Michael Lonsdale's "Papa," Louis' father and the head of the information gathering group that Avner's team uses. This man is absolutely diabolical. Even if you agree with his "Stay away from governments" stance you just can't shake the feeling that this guy is just a greedier version of Xander Drax from "Moonraker" living in France somewhere. Or he's doing Brian Cox. Anyway, this is another great performance. Just great stuff.
Ayelet Zorer's Daphna is the only female character we see throughout the story. She's pregnant when we meet her (and she's willing to do a sex scene while pregnant. Booyah on that one) and she's the one constant for Avner. He takes her to Brooklyn to get away from the escalating violence in Israel and the Middle East in general and she's still there for him when he leaves the service. She keeps watch of his child. If the movie were longer she'd probably have a more substantial part, but for what she does it's good enough. She should get more work.
"Munich" is a movie you will remember if you're willing to set aside the time and see it. You really should. This is one of Steven Spielberg's best movies, and, again, something that should be seen and experienced because it's that important. It's a great movie above all else, and that's all that really matters.
Go see it.
You'll thank yourself.
The 411: “Munich” is a movie about revenge. It’s a three hour thriller that just feels right, and is a great experience. Great performances, great action, great music, great everything. One of the best flicks of 2005. You don’t have to agree with anything Spielberg tries to say about current events of what he thinks happened as a result of the horrific even that starts the flick, because, really, above everything, “Munich” is a great movie. That’s what’s really important.
