“Munich” was supposed to be a deep treatment of the moral ambiguities of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but it's barely more complex than a typical action film

By Jonathon Baron
Gargoyle assistant editor
Published Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2006, Gargoyle, arts

“The world was watching in 1972 as 11 Israeli athletes were murdered at the Munich Olympics.” This was supposed to be the story of what happened next. Unfortunately, though, “Munich” wasn't as successful as I had hoped.

Generally, I don't care so much for Steven Spielberg, but his latest film appeared to be promising. Few major directors before this point had made a mainstream film dealing with the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, so the spotlight was on Spielberg. However, for a movie about the aggression and violence emanating from the situation in Israel, Spielberg seems to have missed the mark.

“Munich” follows an Israeli officer named Avner who is given an assignment to take out the Palestinian men responsible for the killings that took place during the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Avner meets up with four other men who specialize in certain fields that will aid him in carrying out the mission at hand, and all of them are fairly enthusiastic about it.

The rest of the film depicts their actions concerning the various assassinations they carry out. As the film goes on, and their hands become stained deeper with the blood of the men they slay, though, all of the characters begin to question their undertaking. This is Spielberg's target in “Munich.” His goal is to demonstrate how violence is wrong coming from either side and retaliation only perpetuates the conflict.

As a result of their actions, several members of the group are killed, and Avner finds himself going crazy and becoming exceedingly paranoid. After going through a mission he said he couldn't live with passing up, he realized just how damaging it was, and he feels used by the Israelis as a pawn in the never-ending game of Palestinian-Israeli aggression.

Spielberg employed the help of Tony Kushner, a major playwright whose works include his Tony Award-winning “Angels in America,” to aid him in depicting the conflict, but Kushner's critical attitude toward Israel may have influenced the film.

Even though “Munich” was meant to discuss not only the brutalities in Israel but also to describe how the hostilities force both sides to act against their own morals and sense of honor, conflict is usually only mentioned as a general idea when the main characters bring up bombings and terrorism in Israel.

The one point in the film where Spielberg really does bring up the inter-actions in the Middle East is when a group of Palestinians (which reflects the Jewish group) stays in the same safehouse as Avner's team.

Avner talks to the Palestinians' leader, Ali, who is just as gung-ho about his people's objectives as Avner is about his (although Avner doesn't tell Ali that he's Jewish). But although Avner and Ali can't agree, paralleling their two races' conflict, hope is evident.

When the rashest members of each group fight over which radio station to listen to, their dispute is settled when they find a station playing a tune by American soul singer Al Green. It gives us hope that maybe, if two smaller groups of Jews and Palestinians can agree on something, then the two larger cultures can make peace and co-exist.

Unfortunately, Spielberg made “Munich” into more of an action movie with traces of a critical analysis of mutual hostility than the other way around. “Munich” would've been infinitely better if it had primarily focused on the concepts of the conflict rather than the conflict itself.

People looking for a normal action movie will still appreciate “Munich,” but the point of it was that it wasn't just an action movie, so “Munich” really failed in its intended goals.

But Spielberg did bring the situation to the public's attention, even if his movie didn't really do a great job at subsequently informing the film's viewers, and maybe (because he didn't touch upon the conflict enough) people will be driven to find out more on their own. I wish that I didn't have to go out on my own after paying $7.50 to learn about Israel, though.