Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Munich (2005)


Avner (Eric Bana) heads a group of five men charged with the mission of murdering the people responsible for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

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Steven Spielberg has trouble knowing when to end his movies. Lately they have tended to overstay their welcome. Fortunately for Munich, this is a good thing. The entire film is about the question of, 'When does it stop?" The Arab/Israeli conflict becomes this endless back and forth. A Muslims kill Jews so Jews kill Muslims, then Muslims kill Jews in retaliation so Jews once again kill Muslims. As one character puts it, "Now we're in dialogue." But is there any end to this "conversation"? And what effect does this have on the people doing the talking? This film asks a lot of questions, and thankfully doesn't give us answers. Definitely one of Spielberg's best. It's a pity he had to follow it up with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls...

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