The final scene of Steven Spielberg's "Munich" takes place on a Brooklyn riverfront, circa the mid-1970s. Two characters briefly debate the driving question of the entire film — whether or not violence and terrorism merely beget more violence and terrorism — and then the camera pans to a wide shot before the credits roll. There is the Manhattan skyline, and at the heart of it, the World Trade Center, standing tall and proud.
For all the hoopla made about Mr. Spielberg tackling the Israeli/Palestinian question in a feature film, the reality is that "Munich" is not so much about any particular dispute. Rather, the movie is the first genuine, remarkable effort to address the larger question of terrorism as a whole since that fateful day in September 2001. And Mr. Spielberg is so wildly successful in this venture that the end product truly is a film that ought to be immediately inducted into the ageless top echelon of cinematic marvels.
The movie begins at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, revisiting the thuggish massacre of the Israeli delegation at the hands of Palestinians. Mr. Spielberg opts to create this modern horror only to the extent that such is absolutely necessary; when possible, the film instead relies on documentary archive footage of broadcasters like Jim McKay and Peter Jennings sharing the terror with their audiences. When the film does recreate the Munich massacre, extensive attention is paid to detail — everything down to the number of the dormitory in which the athletes resided is correctly accounted.
The main focus of the film, however, is the secret Mossad squad of assassins assembled by Israel in the aftermath of the events. The team's objective is to seek revenge by killing 11 people who helped arrange for the Munich massacre. "Forget peace for now. We have to show them we're strong," the film portrays Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen) as commenting.
It is difficult to distinguish reality and fiction from this point on, as the secretive nature of the squad has clearly left few historical records. The movie portrays a group of men who are removed from society for the duration of their work, trading moneys with a Swiss safe deposit box that essentially doesn't exist. The assassins criss-cross Europe in pursuit of their targets, finding increasingly visible — and graphic — ways to engage their mission with every passing explosion.
Indeed, despite being a rather seriously minded drama, "Munich" does have all the oomph of a well-made action film, with MacGyver-esque bombs, a level of gore as graphic as — though briefer than — that found in "Saving Private Ryan" and even a nude woman bleeding to death through her punctured trachea.
Yet the film is still undeniably a cerebral essay on terrorism. And Mr. Spielberg goes to great lengths attempting to not take sides in the Israeli/Palestinian debate, trading a dense work for one that allows character development and various intellectual debates between diverse characters. It is reminiscent of the values questioned by key characters in "Saving Private Ryan," but here, the emphasis truly is more on this matter of debate than on paying tribute to any class of people — a fundamental distinction that serves to separate "Munich" from Mr. Spielberg's other landmark works. Still, the film does bear a marginal bias — the sympathy of the Israeli characters is simply too astounding to not cloud the primitive beastly nature of the Palestinian terrorists. While a few Palestinian characters are developed in depth and lent slightly gentler ethos, even Mr. Spielberg's finest efforts are not enough to mask the historic thuggery.
And yet even that savagery is aesthetically beautiful thanks to the extraordinary cinematography of Janusz Kaminski, Mr. Spielberg's longtime director of photography. The dulled pastels and scenic backdrops of 1970s Europe are presented in a manner even more stunning than the efforts of John Seale and his brilliant achievements in "The Talented Mr. Ripley." For Mr. Kaminski, the film feels like a quasi-throwback to "Saving Private Ryan," but the colors are less muted, settings more urban and backdrops more picturesque. One Italian countryside scene even has the feel of Gordon Willis' work from "The Godfather." Barring a political revolt from the Academy, "Munich" should deliver Mr. Kaminski his third Oscar.
Then again, Mr. Kaminski shouldn't be alone on the annual awards circuit. Mr. Spielberg has once again proved himself the preeminent director of the modern era, and this work is certainly among his finest of entries.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
