Munich

Munich is a Steven Spielberg film about Black September and the Israeli response to it. 11 Israeli athletes were killed in the Olympic Village during the 1972 olympics at the hands of Palestinian terrorists. In response to the assassinations the Israeli government creates a group of Mossad agents to hunt down and kill the masterminds behind the terrorist plot.

Munich was directed by Steven Spielberg. The cast was excellent. The cast composed primarily of Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciaran Hinds, and Geoffrey Rush. The action thriller component of the movie keeps you on edge the whole movie.

I really appreciate this movie not only for the historical implications but beacuse there is a bigger issue that runs through the dna of this movie. That is what does it mean to be Jewish and to what lengths do you protect your faith and your identity from those that seek to destroy it.

The Israeli government recruits 5 Mossad agents for the task. They come from different backgrounds and the actions they take to hunt down those responsible affects each one differently. Eric Bana's character is a war hero who has to leave a pregnant wife behind to take the assignment. At first he is convinced of the moral righteousness of his mission. However, as he tracks down and kills the people responsible (many who have families and beliefs of their own) he starts to second guess is assassination responsibilities. He then becomes haunted by his victims and that haunting turns into paranoia. He starts to see that as he kills each individual responsible that someone else starts to hunt him down in revenge for killing their Palestinian leader, brother, etc. He becomes so paranoid that everyone is out to kill him and his family in retribution for the Palestinians he killed that it drives him crazy and almost makes him forsake his Jewish State and beliefs. Daniel Craig plays a character who is never quite sure that what they are doing is correct. Ciaran Hinds is a true believer in what they are doing but has a fatal flaw. The bomb technician in the group is haunted already by all his past misdeeds. Each character has their own story. The movie does a pretty good job of exploring all of them.

The main issue is that everyone feels good about revenge. Especially, justified revenge. However, violence begets violence. And in the thousands of years old war between the Palestinians and the Jews no one is winning. They are only taking turns killing each other for a slight they received in the past from the other. It raises the question, who committed the first offense? Can anyone remember what started the argument? Can you get past a conflict that has lost the when and why of it? Can you ever forgive thousands of years of killing each other no matter who was wronged first or why?

I recommend Munich to anyone. For having been directed by a Jewish director I thought that this movie was well created to show the struggle on both sides of the conflict. Spielberg didn't necessarily take sides and I appreciate that. It must be difficult to do. If you are interested in getting a more profound understanding of the Jewish Palestinian conflict this movie is for you. Of course there is some artistic license, etc. But, overall this was a fantastic movie that can teach you about history and human nature. It really is an awesome movie. I want to put in a small plug for Ciaran Hinds. I immensley enjoy this actor and his work. Check out some of his other movies, most importantly The Sum of all Fears, when you get a chance.

Other information:
Steven Spielberg is directing and producing a movie about Abraham Lincoln. That should be interesting. It is on my list of movies to see when they come out.
Eric Bana will be in Judd Apatow's new movie Funny People that also stars Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, and Jonah Hill. This ought to be a GOOD one!
Daniel Craig is going to be in another Bond movie. Big surprise right?!?
Ciaran Hinds will be in a movie called The Debt which is about a group of vigilantes trying to bring a Nazi war criminal to justice.
Ciaran Hinds is also rumored to play Aberforth Dumbledore (Albus Dumbledore's brother) in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows.