Munich – 2005
The title Munich refers to the Olympic Games in Munich Germany in 1972, during which eleven Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian terrorists calling themselves Black September. This film, directed by Stephen Spielberg, is about the Israeli response. According to the movie, a five man counter strike force was assembled, assigned with the massive task of hunting down and murdering the members of Black September, no matter how long it took, no matter what the cost.
The leader of this assassination squad was Avner Kauffman, played by Eric Bana. He resigns from Mossad and leaves his pregnant wife, Daphna, played by Ayelet Zurer. With him are South African driver, Steve, played by Daniel Craig, Belgian explosives expert, Robert, played by Mathieu Kassovitz, Danish document forger, Hans, played by Hanns Zischler, and Former Israeli soldier and “cleaner”, Carl, played by Ciaran Hinds. They are given a list of eleven names, one for each Olympic athlete killed, men involved with Black September, and are ordered to locate and kill each of them. This assignment was called Operation Wrath of God.
Among the Israeli generals and politicians hiring the team are the Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meir, played by Lynn Cohen, and Avner’s case contact Ephraim, played by Geoffrey Rush. And the last two players in this little drama are Avner’s hired informants who located the targets, charging steep prices for each name on the list. They are Louis and his father, called Papa, played by Mathieu Amalric, and Michael Lonsdale. They belong to an unscrupulous family willing to sell any information to the highest bidder.
And there’s the set-up. The film follows the assassination squad as they travel all over Europe, taking out one target after another with varying results and degrees of success. They do their best to avoid civilian casualties, though as Operation Wrath of God unfolds, more and more innocent people are hurt or even killed, and the members of the team develop feelings of unrest and guilt. Eventually, with around seven of the targets neutralized, Louis and Papa are hired by the remaining members of Black September to locate Avner and his team.
As the members of the assassination squad begin to get killed, Avner returns to Israel, to let Ephriam know that he has been compromised and the assignment is over. But now he has PTSD and paranoia. He believes that he and his family are in danger of Palestinian retaliation. Ephriam, asks Avner to return to Israel and Mossad, though he refuses.
As with all movies based on real events, I did my reading. The movie was mostly true, but with one significant difference, though I completely understand why the change was made. In the film, there was a five man squad who was tasked with assassinating all eleven names on the list. In reality, there were multiple teams. But in a movie, they didn’t want to have to introduce a new team of characters for each new target. As an audience, we would be quickly confused. Just stick with the five assassins and get to know them a little so that when Carl, Robert, and Hans are killed, we know them a little, and care that they are dead.
But one of the complaints I found in my research, otherwise known as reading Wikipedia articles, was a strange one. In the second assassination attempt, they planted plastic explosives in a man’s telephone. The complaint was that in reality, the bomb was hidden in the table on which the phone was sitting. Come on! That’s what you want to complain about?
Spielberg did a good job directing, as usual. And as usual, he got his good friend John Williams to provide a great score. In fact, Williams was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score, though he did not win. His score was perfect in that it did its job. It enhanced the story without distracting from it. Williams is really a master of his craft and over his long career, he has been nominated for over fifty Academy awards, most of which are for Scores, though some are for Best Original Song, or Best Score Adaptation. So, really, I have no complaints there.
Munich was really a pretty good movie. It was not what I was expecting, and had some really thrilling moments that kept me on the edge of my seat. Spielberg is always a very good storyteller. I liked the intensity that was inherent in the assassinations, which we are supposed to see as righteous acts. In fact, there were a number of scenes in which Avner broods over what must have happened when the hostages were taken and eventually murdered. We are treated to a little footage of the event itself, which caught the world by surprise. Avner and his team are clearly supposed to be the good guys. But really, how good are they when they become ambivalent about the innocent people injured and killed because of their mission? When do they stop being good guys, and become just another band of terrorists? Where does the violence end?