munich (1 Viewer)

[icecreamdisco]

excellent film. so goddamn cold, which coming from spielberg, is a pretty exhilirating feeling. i liked the way the film begins like an exciting espionage action-thriller, but as the body count increases, spielberg's crowd-pleasing instincts become less present;establishes the dehumanising effects of violence effectively. perhaps a bit too long though, and eric bana's performance was a little uneven (but generally very good).

always good to see such a provocative film playing in the multiplexes.

 

[braad]

i've been waiting for this to come out, looks good

 

[Bookie]

I loved it. A good lengthy film, with a good plot (yes, I know its true). Bana did a great job, as did most of the others. And both muslims and jews got killed. EVERYONES A WINNAR!

 

[ur_inner_child]

i cant believe how small this thread is!

i highly recommend it. icecreamdisco, if i knew you in real life, we'd so be movie buddies. i have little to comment, since it would only be a repeat of your post.

spielberg... i actually didnt realise it was him, i didnt bother checking who directed it before i saw it. im quite impressed with him. quite the jump from war of the worlds.

 

[Reshie]

i sooo liked this movie awesome camera work in this movie and the music fitted in perfectly.eric bana was awesome true emotion in this movie

 

[AntonTheswan]

I felt that spielberg was trying to hard to provide an objective standpoint, that left me remembering and pining for the irrepressable conviction of Schindlers list. Bana I thought was brilliant, understating a role that a lesser performer would have mangled by over emoting and grandstanding. Rush and Craig were less impressive, but the bombmaker, from Amelie was the showstealer for me. The thriller elements were strong in their own right, although the sequence with the young girl picking up the phone was an unnecessary addition as it stuck a classic hollywood cliche in a sombre, true stroy. Comparable to The Pianist in its use of high impact violence, Spielberg aimed to shock the viewer into questioning the nature of retribution, and does so extremely effectively. The film however fails to elict as strong a response as it probably hoped, due to the constant, conscious maintenace of an objective standpoint.

 

[AlleyCat]

this film was almost perfect in my opinion. i disagree with icecreamdisco's description of bana's acting, i think he was brilliant and steady and held it all together. the subtle changes of voice and expression was so different from the usual spielberg actors and from what he is usually like.

9/10

 

[Markazzo]

Saw this today, very much enjoyed it. I even enjoyed Eric Bana's performance, he's quite the actor even without a hokey American accent or big plastic hair. I think this is Spielberg's best film in almost a decade.

 

[chloe169]

Agreed, was awesome.

9/10

 

[withoutaface]

I want to fist eric bana up to my elbow that movie was so good.

 

[icecreamdisco]

i disagree with icecreamdisco's description of bana's acting, i think he was brilliant and steady and held it all together. the subtle changes of voice and expression was so different from the usual spielberg actors and from what he is usually like.

hmm, i thought some of his reactions were a little too instantaneous, notably his pained expression upon hearing his kid's voice on the phone, which provoked some laughter in the audience. but otherwise, he was very good, esp. in the scene where he's about to turn the light off in the apartment to signal the explosion.

speaking of which, that whole scene leading up from the bit on the balcony as bana converses with his neighbour he's about to kill as the lovers from the next door down from him canoodle in the background, to the aftermath of the explosion with the severed arm hanging swinging from the ceiling fan, and the naked woman screaming from being blinded by the blast is one of the most harrowing things spielberg's filmed. if only all his films invited that kind of moral contemplation from his audience.

the preceding assassination scene with the girl in the red dress was incredible too.

 

[icecreamdisco]

The film however fails to elict as strong a response as it probably hoped, due to the constant, conscious maintenace of an objective standpoint.

perhaps, but it's lack of a true hero or villain means it's more provocative in the sense that it asks us to fill in the blanks and think about the questions it doesn't answer - namely, whether terrorism is ever justified - and question if there even is an answer. really, how many mainstream films challenge their audience in such a manner?

 

[AntonTheswan]

Its not that I thought it didn't make a point, on the contrary I think that too often it tried to give both sides of a conflict, to appear evenhanded, while still maintaining a meditation on how one dimensional that conflict is.

rather than condemning both parties, Spielberg could have remained impassive, letting the audience come to the conclusion that within the cycle of violence itself there is no guiltless party. Instead, he thrust it down the throats of the audience.


Lastly I thought it was a brilliant film in all other respects. I treated it as a work of fiction. Having read "Vengeance", and supplementary material, i hate to shatter many illusions, but it is predominantly a fictional narrative, surrounding, and in some cases endevouring t explain real events. As a fictional piece it is a searing protrayal of the effects of institutionalised violence, and the circle of retribution, if at times hamfisted (the scene in the safehouse comes to mind)

 

[icecreamdisco]

rather than condemning both parties, Spielberg could have remained impassive, letting the audience come to the conclusion that within the cycle of violence itself there is no guiltless party. Instead, he thrust it down the throats of the audience.

to each his own. i think he makes his points perfectly clear and lucid; if the message feels didactic i think it's only because the characters often feel like cyphers through which that message is to be delivered (although i think they're also well developed, one of the reasons the film works so well).

 

[Markazzo]

to each his own. i think he makes his points perfectly clear and lucid; if the message feels didactic i think it's only because the characters often feel like cyphers through which that message is to be delivered (although i think they're also well developed, one of the reasons the film works so well).

Nicely put. May I also recommend the documentary 'A Day in September', for a frank and compelling look at the events which occurred at the 1972 Munich Olympics themselves. (Many of the clips from the first ten or so minutes of Spielberg's Munich are also included in this documentary, news reports and such. In essence, for a detailed analysis of the first ten minutes of Munich, check out 'A Day in September'). This documentary had such an effect on me I had originally planned on basing my HSC History Extension major work on the 1972 Olympics, before realising that said incident had yielded no real historiographical debate to speak of.

 

[AlleyCat]

I really want to see this film but what annoys me is the fact that Spielberg seems to think that it's his destiny to make a film on every injust jewish event in the history of the world.

i think you should watch it, you might find that its a very different film to what you might expect.

 

[ur_inner_child]

I really want to see this film but what annoys me is the fact that Spielberg seems to think that it's his destiny to make a film on every injust jewish event in the history of the world.

seriously, i had no idea it was spielberg until the end.

 

[spiny norman]

Watched this today and thought it excellent. I agree with ICD on Bana's initial reaction upon hearing his child's voice on the phone - not the best acting I have ever witnessed. That and the sex scene were the only two parts of the film which I had any major problem with. That was far too over the top for me within the context of the film.

I thought Daniel Craig was excellent in it. Scenestealer, for me.

The final shot was fantastic also, though I have heard some say they thought it too cliche I thought it drove the point home nicely.

Spielberg's best film since Schindler's List.

 

[Benny_]

Terribly sobering film that left me completely drained. Very tired right now and can't quite organise my thoughts on it. To be honest I don't think I loved it quite as much as the rest of oyu, but it was certainly powerful. More later.

 

[walrusbear]

yeah i loved it too blah blah
best spielberg since raiders

gotta agree with icecream, i love how the thriller generic structure just fell apart as violence and moral ambiguity caught up with everyone
my favourite seen was also the hotel bomb