Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Munich



I had seen this movie three or four times prior to tonight's viewing and I had always favored the film. This most recent viewing (as is common with 4th or fifth viewings) revealed flaws I had either missed or glossed over in previous viewings. The writing is wonderful in its quiet conversations and big speeches, but offers tomatoes for Eric Bana to throw at times. Eric Bana is great. This is his best role. He is very talented. For the first time, though, I felt like I was watching him act. I could feel the effort in his words, his accent. Still a fine performance. His hollowed out brokeness shown in his eyes and echoed in his emotionless words. His duty to protect and serve had taken something from him.

I loved the supporting players. They don't get the spotlight scenes and lines that Bana gets, but they all shine. Daniel Craig, Geoffrey Rush, Ciarian Hinds, and Mathieu Kassovitz each infuse their characters with emotion and urgency appropriate to the story.

The film deals with themes of home: loyalty to where you came from, the duty to protect your home, and the get back the one you lost. Everyone is looking for home, or rather to keep it safe and theirs. And to keep it safe, people are killed. The story tries to cover all its bases. It brings light to every end of the terror people cause other people to endure. We do awful things. Sometimes those awful things are right. Sometimes they are necessary. But Munich brings up a valid question: can it stop? Will it ever stop? When does it quit? And that's when I feel heavy and beaten.

I found myself marveling at Spielberg's direction this time. His camera moves with such precise movement that I hadn't really noticed prior to this most recent viewing. He builds suspense with an expert eye. The movie is gritty and bleak, washed down colors and dark city streets abound. All these and more created a sense of dread in me every time someone stood up to move forward. The sex scene intercut with the killing of the Munich hostages bothered me for the first time this past viewing. I get what Spielberg and his writer's were doing. Avner (Bana) couldn't get what had happened and what he had done out of his head. He was a slave to all these overwhelming ghosts. I guess I just don't know why it had to be part of the sex scene. It's the most forced scene of the movie. Second to that is the music drenched, "intense" moment where Avner senses he and his daughter are the targets of a dark car with tinted windows. Bum Bum Bum! Still, the film's action is very intense with real stakes always rising. The men risk their lives, and, though it may sound corny or trite, their souls.

Still the best film of 2005.

****

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