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Director: Steven Spielberg
Rating: R (strong graphic violence, some sexual content, nudity and language)
Release Date: January 6, 2006
See it on Amazon
 One of the countless lessons I learned from dad was "Don't fuck with the Jews". This was followed up with several examples including the aftermath of the Munich Massacre. In 1972, some terrorists held hostage and killed 11 Israeli athletes at the Olympics in Germany. The way he described the aftermath was "the Israelis hunted them down like dogs and killed them in the street".
On my list of people not to piss off was "any man with a bigger gun than you" and "the Jews".
Munich is loosely based off of a 1984 book entitled Vengeance. The movie opens with the standard "based on real events" warning, so it's hard to tell where the truth ends and Spielberg's poetic license begins.
The movie tells the story of the hostage crisis fairly accurately. For those unfamiliar with the incident, this is a great history lesson.
A Palestinian terrorist group known as "Black September" stormed into the rooms of Israeli Olympians and held them hostage. After demanding the release of 200+ jailed Palestinians, the terrorists settled for safe passage on a jet. The Germans took everyone by helicopter to the airport where snipers and cops were waiting. Once the terrorists realized that the whole thing was a trap, chaos ensued and all of the hostages were killed.
Three of the terrorists survived.
Wrath of God
The movie focuses on the story of a special hit team formed to track down everyone involved with the massacre and kill them. The Prime Minister of Israel gave approval of the whole thing. It's fascinating to watch as the members, funding, and methods are set up.
The movie chronicles the team throughout all of their missions all the way to the disbanding of the remaining members.
The story is drastically humanized. The members of the team each deal their internal struggles as they wrestle with righteousness and guilt. The movie even builds the characters of some of the targets making us realize that terrorists are people too. That almost made me feel bad when they were brutally slaughtered in the scenes that followed.
Eye for eye makes us both blind
In the end, Spielberg is obviously not trying to take a side in the conflict and is instead showing the effects of vengeance. I kill you, you kill me in return, then I kill you back, etc.
Where does it end? What does it accomplish?
Sure, the people involved with the Munich Massacre were killed, but did it stop the violence? No.
This is where I remember Life Lesson # 384 from my dad. Israel hasn't been a country for nearly 60 years in a region that hates them by avoiding vengeful acts. It is their display of strength and resolve that has kept them intact all these years. They are a proud people with strong roots and they are not to be fucked with.
Overall, the movie is a quality 2 hours and 45 minutes. The storyline is intriguing and educational. I felt the joys and struggles of the characters. I also felt the pain from the extremely violent scenes of people getting slaughtered. The imagery is stunning and not just because there's violence involved.
Though it was a little long and the last thing I want is to be preached to from Hollywood, the movie was worth a view.
Related links:
Official Munich movie website
Box Office Stats
More about the Munich Massacre |
