Munich is based on the 1984 book Vengeance, which according to Reuters, “purport[s] to chronicle the confessions of an assassin who broke ranks in protest at Israel’s two-fisted tactics.” Much is being made of that book’s alleged inaccuracies and subsequently the film’s. “I think it is a tragedy that a person of the stature of Steven Spielberg, who has made such fantastic films, should have based this film on a book that is a falsehood,” David Kimche, a former senior Mossad official, told Reuters. For his part, Spielberg isn’t claiming to have made a documentary-minded drama. And he’s assigned it an “inspired by” actual events disclaimer.
As Spielberg uses that artistic license to explore what he would consider to be a fine line separating assassins from soldiers, over and over again he drives home the point that if you sink to the depraved and despicable level of your enemies, you gradually become them. And he points out that violence can prompt further violence. “It did not begin in Munich,” says the wife of one target, “and where will it ever end?” Deep, heady, infinitely contentious stuff, that. But things quickly go “off the monorail” as Scott Holleran writes for Box Office Mojo. “Once again, Steven Spielberg transforms a serious subject—an historic act of Arab terrorism—into a skillfully arranged horror show, trivializing another example of 20th century barbarism. … It’s hard to tell what if anything Mr. Spielberg’s picture stands for, other than loud explosions, grotesque close-ups and throwing every excuse for terrorism up on the screen. Certainly not justice.”
Spielberg specializes in revealing how horrific war is, but he rarely hints at how necessary it sometimes is. Munich doesn’t much aid the debate over whether Avner and his team have sunk to an unacceptable level. Rather, the film intentionally muddies it. Clarity remains elusive despite the fact that Avner goes to great lengths to avoid collateral damage and does everything in his power to ensure targets are appropriate military marks, prompting Holleran to ask, “Just what is the proper response to a terrorist attack?” Spielberg doesn’t have the answer.
Read the rest of the Munich Review.
RATED R
DISTRIBUTED BY
DreamWorks, Universal
DIRECTED BY
Steven Spielberg (War of the Worlds, The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can, Minority Report, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List)
STARRING
Eric Bana as Avner; Daniel Craig as Steve; Ciarán Hinds as Carl; Mathieu Kassovitz as Robert; Hanns Zischler as Hans; Ayelet Zurer as Daphna; Geoffrey Rush as Ephraim; Michael Lonsdale as Papa; Mathieu Amalric as Louis