Munich

So what is this one about?
Well. In 1972 the Israeli Olympic team was murdered in the Olympic Village and Olympia Park in Munich, Germany.
Right here, in fact. (Thats the shadow of the Olympia Turin (Olympic Tower) you see and partial grounds of the Park)


Munich is based on actual events and tells the story of the Palestinian terrorists [who] hold hostage and ultimately kill a group of Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics. In the tragic aftermath of the infamous murders, a Mossad agent (Eric Bana) tracks down the assassins. Ciaran Hinds and Geoffrey Rush co-star in this film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Tony Kushner (award-winning playwright of "Angels in America"). (Thanks Netflix!)

And how much did I pay to watch?
This one is tricky. Technically the answer is nothing because the dvd is my father's. However, I think I bought him the dvd for Christmas a few years ago. Not only that though because I saw the movie in the theatre with my mom when it came out, though I think she paid.

So, the answer is nothing, with explanation.

Oh yeah, and this is the second time I've seen it.

And what did I think?
Well, I think seeing it a second time was helpful. The first time I saw it I thought it was good, but I didn't think I caught everything. And now watching it a 2nd time there is still one part I think I may have missed.

Well, I thought it was very long. Clocking in at 2 hours and 44 minutes, its quite long. It holds attention for the most part, but nearly three hours is a lot to expect from an audience.

The cast was excellent, especially Eric Bana, who had a skillfully layered characterization. The music was beautiful and added suspense and sadness to the narrative. The cinematography was beautiful as well, with artistic (but not grotesquely so) shots that looked like photographs. The weaving of the scenes of what happened to the athletes at Munich into the narrative was skillful as well. Especially the last scene where Bana is making love to his wife while visualizing the deaths of the Israeli team. The build and climax of that scene coupled with Bana's tortured acting was brilliant. Just brilliant!

The last scene was the one that I still remain a bit confused about. Bana comes back to New York and lives in a state of constant fear that he is on a hit list somewhere for all the killings he perpetrated. The madness that he experiences was palpable and excellently acted. The last scene though, where he speaks with Geoffrey Rush, is the one there could be some confusion about. [SPOILER ALERT...maybe] Bana asks Rush if there was any connection between the men he killed and what actually happened at Munich, and what Rush explains wasn't clear. Bana's reaction comes off as shock...as in he had killed all these men who had deserved to die, but not in retaliation for Munich. It was rather confusing.

So what is the rating? (out of 10)
I will give this one a 7. The film was skillful, and the story of Munich is fascinating, but I think the long running time...and the thick accents, detract from it.

I would recommend it, but first I would recommend that you get your historical background surrounding the events of Munich well established. I'd check out wikipedia's page, for starters.