Review of Munich (2005) by Stuart K — 08 May 2012

In the same year he made the sci-fi adventure War of the Worlds (2005), Steven Spielberg created this piece of "historical fiction", based on George Jonas' 1984 book Vengeance, focusing on one of the darkest hours in the history of Israel, and the aftermath and bloodshed that followed in the months afterwards.

It's certainly Spielberg's most difficult film, one that got criticism for it's subject matter. In response to the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, Israel's Prime Minister Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen) orders an immediate retaliation, and a list of 11 Palestinian responsible for planning the Munich massacre.

An assassination team led by Avner Kaufman (Eric Bana) and working under Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush), and consisting of driver Steve (Daniel Craig), bomb-maker Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz), documents forger Hans (Hanns Zischler) and clean-up man Carl (Ciarán Hinds) are set all around Europe to eliminate the masterminds of the Munich massacre, going to Rome, Paris, London, Cyprus, Athens and Beirut.

But, as the killings tally up, it causes a strain on the group and they question whether it's really the answer. This is a thought-provoking, powerful and suspensful thriller, and it's also Spielberg's angiest film, (even more so that Schindler's List), this is dark and brooding, and it's shot brilliantly with a great ensemble at it's centre.

This is a film which asks if violence is the best way to retaliate in such a tragic situation, the films central message, despite being cliched, is a true one. Two wrongs never make a right.