Munich review

After filming Schindlers List in 1994, Steven Spielberg established the Shoah Foundation, dedicated to recording the testimony of Holocaust survivors. A commitment to the Jewish cause is clearly very important to the director who has turned to one of the most dramatic episodes in the long-standing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians to express his views. Munich is about Israel's response to the massacre by Palestinian terrorists of 11 of its athletes at the 1972 Olympic games.

Based on true events, Munich is an impassioned drama using the parameters of a thriller as it follows a group of five men, headed by the resolute Avner (Eric Bana), on a mission to hunt down and assassinate 11 men connected with the atrocity. Although the plot centers on specific events, it is clear that the script by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, based on George Jonas' book Vengeance, is a general indictment of the endless and futile cycle of violence that has existed between Israel and Palestine. "There is no peace at the end of this," states one character. Despite Spielberg's religious affiliations, Munich offers a relatively balanced perspective, recognizing Arabs and Israelis are equally to blame, although this hasn't stopped supporters of both sides taking issue with the film.

Munich opens with the Palestinian terrorist group Black September storming the Olympic village, murdering some Israeli athletes and taking others hostage. From there it cuts to Israeli Prime Minister (Lynn Cohen) declaring "Forget peace for now," as she and her advisors discuss retaliation and the formation of a death squad. As a former Massad agent and Meir bodyguard, Avner is given the task of leading the team. Briefed by an agent Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush), Avner is told that officially he is on his own and has no backing from the government, but that secretly a safe deposit box has been set up with an endless supply of money for their mission.

And with that, Avner puts together his outfit: a toymaker and explosives expert Robert (Matthieu Kassovitz), a clean-up man Carl (Ciaran Hinds), a trigger man Steve (Daniel Craig) and forger Hans (Hanns Zischler). They hook up with a suave Frenchman Louis (Mathieu Amalric) who, for a considerable price, provides them with the whereabouts of their targets as well as the tools to help dispatch them. The film is its most absorbing when Avner and company are carrying out a hit. As they travel the globe on their quest, each location is captured with unromantic grittiness by Spielberg's constant cinematographer Janusz Kaminski.

One failing, particularly in light of the film's protracted length, is its inability to create fully involving characters. Most offer little in the way of personal details or revealing insights into their personalities. It makes them hard to identify or empathise with. Dealing more in issues than in personalities, Munich is least effective on those rare moments it does try to go deeper, in particular the film's climactic scene involving Avnar and his wife which is intercut with images from the tragic conclusion to events at the Olympics.

Once completed, Avnar's revaluation of his mission and its success is profound. "Jews don't do wrong because our enemies do wrong," he tells Ephraim, and "if these people committed crimes we should have arrested them." He recognizes that no matter how many are killed, there will always be plenty more to take their place. The impact of his change of heart would have been more acutely felt if earlier events had provided a more penetrating glimpse inside his head.

For a more moving understanding of that fateful episode in 1972, Kevin MacDonald's raw and chilling documentary One Day In September is a must, but for those who like a slicker, more palatable rendition, Munich is an absorbing and heartfelt work.

Kevin Murphy