Bilgi :
Steven Spielberg directs "Munich," an historical thriller set in the aftermath of the 1972 massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. Inspired by actual events, the narrative is based on a number of sources, including the recollections of some who participated in the events themselves. "Munich" recounts the dramatic story of the secret Israeli squad assigned to track down and assassinate 11 Palestinians believed to have planned the 1972 Munich massacre -- and the personal toll this mission of revenge takes on the team and the man who led it. Eric Bana (Troy) stars as the Mossad agent charged with leading the band of specialists brought together for this operation.
Review : You have to give Steven Spielberg credit for efficiency, the cinematic master manages to churn out films faster than practically anyone else in the industry with this one in particular completed at a speed practically unheard of. Yet you wouldn't know it was rushed from the result, a 1970's set intriguing adult drama about the true price of vengeance which also happens to make a few interesting (albeit generic) points about the Middle Eastern conflict. Already being touted before its release as the film to beat at the Oscars, does the film live up to the hype? Mostly, yes it does.
"Munich" is a quality production filled with good performances, an interesting and relevant story, and authentic production values which convincingly recreate the time period in a variety of European and Middle Eastern cities. For a man who earned his reputation on a very formulaic style, this is a quite different film for him in a number of aspects. Everything from its low-key score to its understated but superb cinematography and darker subject matter (its certainly his goriest film to date) resembles something more along the lines of a film by Francis Ford Coppola or William Friedkin at their height than the recent gritty but flash Spielberg efforts of the last few years.
Yet it doesn't quite reach the pinnacle its obviously striving for because, like it or not, in the end its still a Spielberg film and must have not only that humanitarian heart to it but a quite deliberately manipulative emotional tone. His other film this year, the enjoyably intense but certainly weaker "War of the Worlds" ran out of gas at the two-thirds mark and delivered a happy ending that can only be considered a cop-out.
Whilst "Munich" never drops the ball on that front, it does lose steam in its third act as the film's forward momentum is lost to life-affirming introspection and somewhat heavy-handed character self-realisation. Despite all the controversy and hot topic political subject matter, at its heart "Munich" is the familiar 'loss of innocence' story - patriotic men doing what they must for their country, but along the way coming to realise all of their actions come at both a personal and emotional cost. Its a time-honored story that works well and does so again here, but ultimately "Munich" adds no new wrinkle or variation to the tale.
The film does try to fuse the basic elements of both low-key political thriller and the aforementioned character drama into one story - a melding which never entirely clicks. The setup scenes with the assassinations are well planned but lack real suspense, whilst the frequent parables on the price and futility of politically-motivated retribution are at times incisive, at others merely cumbersome. A shorter film devoted to being either one of these aspects may not have been as well rounded, but would've struck with more resonance.
With a film focused predominantly on one side of a conflict, there is always the question of how the other side is portrayed. A few attempts to be fair and even-handed are quite bluntly inserted in, most notably two future victims breaking out into monologues about the plight of the Palestinians, but the movie never offers a counterpoint to the whole debate - essentially re-serving the old chestnut that fighting helps no-one, lets all stop to give our children a future.
