Munich
Jan 8, 2006 19:23:57 GMT -5
Post by UberCranky on Jan 8, 2006 19:23:57 GMT -5
This is a movie that stirs emotion and debate, one way or the other. As a movie, yes it was an excellent movie but it also is a political vehicle. As much as it pretends to show a "balanced" view of middle east politics, it really doesn't. It's telling a story of moral struggle with his (their) mission to kill. The underlying political message is that "we don't like it but we have to".
This could become a political debate but it is a movie after all. Suffice to say that I think that it's one of the best movies of the year and I hugely recommend it as ENTERTAINMENT. As for the message, "right and wrong" depends on your point of view and in the end, it will reinforce what you already believe.
Interestingly enough, almost all the US based movie reviews deal only with the content of the movie. When I read a Greek review, it was radically different and far more political. I wish I could read German and French, it would be interesting to see what the European based movie critics say.
Here are some more reviews....
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www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=8315
Munich Movie Review
Spielberg's latest is a provacative, probing thriller.
By Ty Burr
Watch the Munich trailer:
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for "Munich."
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Boston Globe
Published: 12/23/2005
Simply stated, ''Munich" is Steven Spielberg's return to seriousness and his finest film in years. You can take it as both a stunningly well-made international thriller and a drama of deepening moral quicksand. Take it as historical fact, however, at your peril.
I can live with that. The movie has been adapted by playwright Tony Kushner (''Angels in America") and screenwriter Eric Roth (''Ali," ''Forrest Gump") from ''Vengeance," the 1984 George Jonas book that has already been the source of a solid 1986 HBO movie ''Sword of Gideon." Jonas's claims have since been disputed -- Aaron J. Klein's just-published ''Striking Back" is a good read for those who want the facts -- and the filmmakers sensibly buy a little insurance with an opening ''inspired by true events" title card.
More to the point, ''Munich" unfolds within a cinematic reality that may be the only world Spielberg really knows. On those terms, though, the movie is a fascinating provocation -- an inquiry into the spiritual costs of revenge.
The subject is the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes by the Palestinian Black September terrorist group at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich and, more pertinently, the Israeli response: a top-secret assassination campaign, authorized by Prime Minister Golda Meir and carried out by the security agency Mossad, aimed at wiping out those who had planned the attack.
This is the genre of ''Topaz" and ''Day of the Jackal" -- big cast, lots of European capitals, whispers in alleyways alternating with sudden death -- except that Spielberg doesn't play it that way. He dispenses with the cliches of datelines (no ''Saturday, June 15, Brussels") and casts for effectiveness rather than star-power. Eric Bana is the big name here, and if you're saying ''Who?" that's the point. (He was Hector in ''Troy" and the Hulk in ''Hulk.")
Bana plays Avner, the handsome yet somehow unformed young agent assigned to lead the Israeli executioners. He gets a nod from the Prime Minister (Lynn Cohen), kisses his pregnant wife (Ayelet Zurer, ''Nina's Tragedies") goodbye, and delivers himself into the hands of his Mossad keeper, Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush). ''You're ordinary," Ephraim says, explaining why Avner has been chosen. ''You're not a Sabra Charles Bronson."
More.....
This could become a political debate but it is a movie after all. Suffice to say that I think that it's one of the best movies of the year and I hugely recommend it as ENTERTAINMENT. As for the message, "right and wrong" depends on your point of view and in the end, it will reinforce what you already believe.
Interestingly enough, almost all the US based movie reviews deal only with the content of the movie. When I read a Greek review, it was radically different and far more political. I wish I could read German and French, it would be interesting to see what the European based movie critics say.
Here are some more reviews....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=8315
Munich Movie Review
Spielberg's latest is a provacative, probing thriller.
By Ty Burr
Watch the Munich trailer:
Windows Media: High Bandwidth | Low Bandwidth
Map data ©2005 Tele Atlas - Terms of Use
Click on an icon to see showtimes by theater
for "Munich."
Or click here to browse showtimes at all theaters.
ADVERTISEMENT
Boston Globe
Published: 12/23/2005
Simply stated, ''Munich" is Steven Spielberg's return to seriousness and his finest film in years. You can take it as both a stunningly well-made international thriller and a drama of deepening moral quicksand. Take it as historical fact, however, at your peril.
I can live with that. The movie has been adapted by playwright Tony Kushner (''Angels in America") and screenwriter Eric Roth (''Ali," ''Forrest Gump") from ''Vengeance," the 1984 George Jonas book that has already been the source of a solid 1986 HBO movie ''Sword of Gideon." Jonas's claims have since been disputed -- Aaron J. Klein's just-published ''Striking Back" is a good read for those who want the facts -- and the filmmakers sensibly buy a little insurance with an opening ''inspired by true events" title card.
More to the point, ''Munich" unfolds within a cinematic reality that may be the only world Spielberg really knows. On those terms, though, the movie is a fascinating provocation -- an inquiry into the spiritual costs of revenge.
The subject is the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes by the Palestinian Black September terrorist group at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich and, more pertinently, the Israeli response: a top-secret assassination campaign, authorized by Prime Minister Golda Meir and carried out by the security agency Mossad, aimed at wiping out those who had planned the attack.
This is the genre of ''Topaz" and ''Day of the Jackal" -- big cast, lots of European capitals, whispers in alleyways alternating with sudden death -- except that Spielberg doesn't play it that way. He dispenses with the cliches of datelines (no ''Saturday, June 15, Brussels") and casts for effectiveness rather than star-power. Eric Bana is the big name here, and if you're saying ''Who?" that's the point. (He was Hector in ''Troy" and the Hulk in ''Hulk.")
Bana plays Avner, the handsome yet somehow unformed young agent assigned to lead the Israeli executioners. He gets a nod from the Prime Minister (Lynn Cohen), kisses his pregnant wife (Ayelet Zurer, ''Nina's Tragedies") goodbye, and delivers himself into the hands of his Mossad keeper, Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush). ''You're ordinary," Ephraim says, explaining why Avner has been chosen. ''You're not a Sabra Charles Bronson."
More.....