TotalTelly.co.uk
Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV
Munich
RRP: £19.99
Our Price: £2.00 (subject to change)
Justice for all
Review date: 2008-11-18 Rating: 10 out of 10
In this film, Steven Spielberg (a Jew) takes us many steps closer to a world where "justice" is non-existent and "revenge" is the replacement term. We are all the worse for it.
It is clear from the contradictory and unbelievable opening comments from the "Golda Meir" character that we are going to be watching a "fantasy" of what Hollywood would like us to believe could have possibly taken place in the aftermath of these terrorist attacks.
Israelis and particularly Israeli war veterans, intelligence officers, politicians and military are not often the sort of impotent, confused, unprofessional characters portrayed in this film. Are they human? Do they question what they're doing and why? Surely. But not in the fanciful, public, and almost ludicrous manner showcased here. In addition to this, the idea that Mossad agents would forget all their training and run around Europe practically looking to get killed is idealistic stupidity and a totally deceitful presentation of the facts. The whole film sadly attempts to make a point about revenge and peace while sacrificing truth and sanity in the process.
From the Arabs, to the Israelis, to the Europeans, everyone seems unsure and confused about who they are and what they're doing. But the reality is something much different.
How could Spielberg have saved this film? Simply put, he needed to be rational and honest about the individuals involved, their motivations, principals and ideology. The revised "ideology" that is injected into these characters has them instead reciting quotes from both the Bush's administration post 9-11 party line as well as the media's talking-points as regards peace, morality, law, etc.
This breaks the audience's sense of what Hitchcock called the "suspension of disbelief" and reminds us that this is just more Hollywood fluff, albeit with a serious, somewhat artsy tone.
What is relevant here is that a number of terrorists carried out a horrifically unjust act of murder at the Munich Olympics, and that they needed to be punished for what they did as well as prevented from doing it again - upholding the virtues of justice, freedom and rationality. The idea that this is somehow an unjust response because it may lead to more violence is not just irrational, but monstrous. Whether or not 10,000 more people would need to die, we must never relinquish our right as individuals to defend the principals of justice and more importantly - our lives.
Novelist Ayn Rand said of justice:
"It is not justice or equal treatment that you grant to men when you abstain equally from praising men's virtues and from condemning men's vices. When your impartial attitude declares, in effect, that neither the good nor the evil may expect anything from you--whom do you betray and whom do you encourage?"
Similar Products
- Casino Royale [2006]
- Syriana [2005]
- No Country For Old Men [2007]
- The Last King Of Scotland [2006]
- The Good Shepherd [2006]
Reviews
Unpleasantly good, and very thought-provoking.
Review date: 2008-09-18 Rating: 10 out of 10
The killings in Munich are spread out through this film, bringing grim inevitability and helpless, sick fascination together as a sort of background. The main story is of the response to those, with increasing complexity as the straight line between "black and white", "good and evil", "us and them" and so on becomes more and more tangled and blurred. By following one character most of the time, it manages to be absorbingly personal. The contrast between the killers' world and the civilian world through which they move is heightened by the places they overlap. Parts of this sat in my mind and came back up with a new significance later, like Holland and what was said about it near the end. All the performances are great, but that of "Papa" particularly so.
The Pointlessness and Price of Revenge
Review date: 2008-09-02 Rating: 10 out of 10
Be it Israeli secret service agents hunting down Arab terrorists - the story of the movie - or one country invading another country to dispose a dictator or hunt a terrorist, the morale of the story is the same: revenge eats you up until you are indistinguishable from the thing you are fighting.
And to add irony to injury it does nothing but breed more revenge in return.
This is a very good movie about an important historic event and a good lesson we need to learn again and again. It is not a comfortable thing to watch.
Great first half, slow second half
Review date: 2008-07-02 Rating: 8 out of 10
The story of the Israeli response to the Munich Olympics massacre is a film of two halves. The first is a fascinating, detailed and thrilling, err, thriller! Part spy movie, part actioner it's thoroughly enthralling. The second half drags it down however, being overlong and devoid of the tension and pace of the first half. One thing I really liked was the art direction. You would be forgiven for thinking the film was actually made in the 70s as every little detail is soaked in authenticity. So, 5/5 for the first half, 3/5 for the second, 4/5 overall.
A thoughtful and intense story of political violence.
Review date: 2007-12-07 Rating: 8 out of 10
This is not, as the title suggests, a film which focusses on the terrorist attack which killed a large part of the Israeli team at the 1972 Olympic games. This event is featured only at the opening of the film, and later in short flashbacks. One member of the Olympic team is even played by his own son.
This is the semi-fictional story of an Israeli hit squad assembled to carry out revenge assassinations of targets across western Europe. The result is absorbing and convincing. Early 70's Israel and multiple European locations are recreated with glorious attention to detail; with accurate interiors, clothes and street scenes packed with period cars, lending the film and almost documentary feel at times.
The subject of assassination is treated with emotional realism too. The essentially civilised Israelis, all with 'normal' day jobs, although utterly convinced of their purpose find themselves increasingly traumatised by the murders they carry out, often against targets who appear quite harmless and decent, and frequently endangering the lives of innocent bystanders.
This is a film about the nature of political violence and its ultimate futility. There is a clear subtext which refers to the present-day post 9/11 situation and the 'war on terror'. This reveals itself, perhaps a little clumsily, in the closing shot of the film.
Overall, an excellent film, though with some weak spots. In particular, a sub-plot concerning a mysterious French mafia family, from which the agents buy information about their targets. This seems contrived and detracts from the otherwise successful realism of the rest of the story.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Hanns Zischler
Eric Bana
Mathieu Kassovitz
Daniel Craig
Ciarán Hinds
Creators:
Eric Bana (Primary Contributor)
Daniel Craig (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Dreamworks
Manufacturer: Dreamworks
EAN: 5051188152635
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2006-06-12
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 157 minutes