"Munich" Film Review
by Nicolas Leobold "Munich" is Steven Spielberg's latest effort at serious moviemaking, tackling a subject (the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) which is a powder keg and intensely serious in itself. Unfortunately, from the start a project which has the potential for greatness is tainted by Spielberg's choice of the avowed socialist playwright Tony Kushner. Mr. Kushner is notorious among libertarians and other defenders of freedom for proclaiming his "love" for socialism and disdain for essential common human rights like gun ownership and freedom from government coercion. Mr. Kushner feels no hesitation writing in numerous violent scenes to his screenplays which condone the use of violence for "just ends", yet somehow he doesn't make the connection that ordinary human beings in the real world should also be free to exercise the same human right to defend themselves and their loved ones by owning and carrying guns (Mr. Kushner is a shrill supporter for total gun control) or be free from other coercion. Forgive me for delving into my brief political analysis, but this is the common disconnect of gun control supporters in Hollywood and in the theater on Broadway, and indicative of what is the weak link (Mr. Kushner as screenwriter) in an otherwise unqualified great film. And Munich IS a quality film, in fact. Don't get me wrong. The story is involving, poignant, gripping, unfolding intricately as we meet a young expectant father and Israeli Mossad officer, Avner (Eric Bana), being called up by Prime Minister Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen) to head an elite, super-secret death squad to assassinate Arab and Palestinian terrorist operatives. There are truly gripping moments in all of this, to say the least. As Bana's team blow up, shoot, and often end up dismembering evil terrorists populating their hit list, in a ho-hum, routine manner of assassination, there are also unforgettably horrifying scenes in the film, especially like the revenge take-out of a poisonous black widow-like female prostitute-assassin (responsible for killing one of Bana's team members by slitting his throat in bed after seducing him), who the surviving team members hunt down to a house boat in Holland. I won't go into the exact manner of the hit, but will simply say that Spielberg and his production designers and cinematographers in this film often use the fullest extent of their artistic abilities to display the grim beauty of all the destruction, killing and mayhem. Where the weakness of employing Mr. Kushner to write the movie I think becomes clearly apparent is in some of the details and framework of the film, as well as a few embarrassing artistic "flourishes" which Mr. Kushner can't resist injecting in. The footage of the Munich Olympics siege by Palestinian terrorists which is the instigation and origin of the story is one part of the film which is inconsistent in its quality and often made irritatingly melodramatic and sanctimonious. In particular, at the end of the film, where we see flashbacks of the Israeli Olympic team members about to be massacred while the terrorists desperately try to fight off the Munich police SWAT teams, Mr. Spielberg can not resist playing his usual schmaltzy Jewish choral funeral dirges to try and elicit our tears, faith, solidarity, and Jewish resoluteness. Of course, that's Mr. Spielberg's prerogative and privilege along with the perennial Spielberg musical collaborator John Williams, but Mr. Kushner leaves us no doubt that he is a co-conspirator in all this schmaltz by writing in what has to be considered one of the all-time greatest, over-the-top and corniest sadomasochistic love scenes in film history. Superimposing Bana's desperate attempt at lovemaking with his wife onto his imagination's simultaneous visual memories and flashbacks of the fateful violent shootout in Munich, Kushner makes it hard for us not to notice that Bana, his wife and the shootout massacre reach a simultaneous "climax" for us on screen. Somehow we are supposed to contrast the violence of Bana's tortured but creative lovemaking with the violent destruction of the terrorist attack, perhaps. Kushner's lame consolation to us all in this is for Bana's wife to declare with a murmur afterwards, "I love you", broadcasting Kushner's universal affirmation that by our collective procreation, our violent life has some sort of deeper meaning. I think this is the sort of perversion, if you will, that Kushner can't help bringing to many of his projects, but it only serves to diminish Spielberg's skill and greatness, making what could have been nearly a flawless movie into what is merely an excellent movie with glaring flaws. In fact, I would say that there are many movies in the past thirty years in recent memory, several by Spielberg himself, in which compromises to politics or to polite society or to social convention, such as the casting of a "Tony Kushner", end up finally reducing and discrediting the integrity of the finished product in the end. It's almost as if Spielberg, sensing his own potential for true greatness, either pulls back out of fear and self-sabotages, or is so caught up by adrenaline and overconfidence that he exercises poor judgment in his planning and organizing for the project. Because, truly, a film about an ultra-controversial and hyper-sensitive topic such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, by the most powerful American director of our day, leaves little room for bad hiring, bad decision making, or any compromises on quality, genuineness and realism. By choosing a screenwriter who has compromised his own human values and those of our society in supporting the violation of human rights and human lives through the advocacy of socialism and authoritarianism, Spielberg has correspondingly allowed himself and his integrity to be compromised, and has compromised the quality of his work as a consequence. Copyright 2005 by Nicolas Leobold, All Rights Reserved ******************************************************* Nicolas Leobold "..just another one of those American gun nuts..." Support The Libertarian Party http://www.LP.org<http://www.lp.org/> call 1-800-ELECT-US for free info pak Committed to America's heritage of freedom -Individual liberty, Constitutional rights, self-ownership, and personal responsibility -A free-market economy with abundance, prosperity, and opportunity for all -A foreign policy of non-intervention, peace and free trade with all nations Are you a libertarian? Take the World's Smallest Political Quiz and find out: http://www.self-gov.org/quiz.html<http://www.self-gov.org/quiz.html> View The Philosophy of Liberty animation: http://www.isil.org/resources/introduction.swf<http://www.isil.org/resources/introduction.swf> Find out more about libertarianism: http://www.Libertarianism.com<http://www.libertarianism.com/> "Suppose the Second Amendment said, 'A well-educated Electorate, being necessary for self-governance in a free State, the right of the people to keep and read Books, shall not be infringed.' Is there anyone who would suggest that means only registered voters have a right to read?" --Georgetown University professor Robert Levy Nic Leobold, a gun-nut, says: "Buy a gun today and protect your family and loved ones from bad people. Avoid crime, terrorism, civil unrest or a tyrannical government with your [choose one] God-given/moral/ethical/civil/individual/human right to protect yourself and exercise self-defense. Don't worry, you already have a license, permit and registration for it, it's called your voter registration card or state I.D. Don't listen to politicians and bought-and-paid-for police chiefs who claim you don't." -Nic (Amendment II of the Bill of Rights, Constitution of the United States, guarantees that ".the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.") ("Self-defense and survival is the prime directive and right of every human. No government, organization, group, authority or entity supersedes or is greater than any man, woman or child. The individual, not the group or nation, is the basic building block and supreme unit of any civilized society, and the well-being of all individuals through their individual autonomy comes before any considerations of the group or nation. Therefore gun ownership and possession by the individual is a fundamental and basic natural right which absolutely must be preserved." -Nic Leobold) "Gun nuts" are otherwise reasonable, respectful people who believe that all human beings have a human right to defend themselves and their loved ones by owning and carrying guns for self-protection; and that guns are the easiest and safest way for the vast majority of people, including elderly, women and the disabled and handicapped, to effectively practice self-defense; but these reasonable, respectful people have been pigeon-holed and stereotyped as "radicals", "loonies", "militia types", "country hicks", and "rednecks", because intellectuals think you have to be crazy or live in the South to want to have a gun. That's why some of us call ourselves "gun nuts". It's a sarcastic and ironic comment on the folly of our present-day political correctness and slavish worship of and acquiescence to authority and the government. But I can tell you, there's nothing sarcastic or ironic about being mugged, assaulted or threatened, as often happens here in the big city. So be prepared-buy a gun. -Nic the gun nut ----------------------------*NICOOGLE ADVERTISEMENT*-------------------------------- For all your telecommunication needs, including telephone service, DSL, VOIP, satellite TV, cellular phones, web hosting and internet domains, calling cards, computer and office equipment, conference calls, and so much more, go with NLTEL: http://www.GO-NLTEL.com<http://www.go-nltel.com/> -----------------------------*NICOOGLE ADVERTISEMENT*------------------------------- "One of the three greatest lies ever told is, 'Hi, We're from the government, and we want to help you.'" --Ronald Reagan "Democracy is what you get when two wolves and a sheep sit down to vote on what to have for dinner." "Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people. 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