Munich

[Deleted]

jazz said:

Did anyone here read that tidbit about a director(I'm not sure if it was on Page Six)chuckling gleefully at a party where he was telling people that nobody is interested in Spielberg's movie? It will be interesting how the movie will fare.

Not planning to see it myself.

No. Do you have a link? It's weird, I go to a lot of the Oscar prediction sites, and Munich isn't getting as much attentions as I would have guessed. I think Spielberg blew it a bit with his "I'm taking the high road and not campaigning at all" and then going on the cover of TIME the next day.

[jazz]

Hm. I went back tos earch for it but could not find it. I think it was listed under their "WE HEAR"
colum. And they said it was avery well known director who said it about Munich.

Maybe Spielberg's hoping that his name could still sell the film.

[Deleted]

jazz said:

Hm. I went back tos earch for it but could not find it. I think it was listed under their "WE HEAR"
colum. And they said it was avery well known director who said it about Munich.

Thanks. I've been looking on the NY Post website but I can't find a "WE HEAR" section. I'm following the Oscar race pretty closely this year, that's why this is of so much interest to me.

[Bonster]

I saw this yesterday and thought it was excellent. Eric Bana's performance was outstanding.

I realize from reading some of the posts and linked articles here that it isn't that accurate in terms of depicting what actually happened, but that doesn't bother me. It does say that it is "based" on real events so I don't think Spielberg is trying to say that this is the whole, real story. If anything, the movie has just made me curious to find out the real story, I will definitely check out that documentary.

From what I understand, the character of Avner isn't even based on one real man, but rather is a composite of several people involved in these "hit squads". My take on the movie (which I think may have been mentioned here already) is that it is more about the internal struggles of these characters with what they are doing than the exact details of what happened.

If you are concerned with the historical accuracy then I'd say don't see it, but if you just want to get involved in a compelling story I'd recommend it. But it is very disturbing in parts, so it's also not for people who get easily upset by graphic violence and disturbing scenes.

[speciousreasoning]

Avner is actually from the book "Vengeance", and he is based on someone who claimed to be a Mossad agent involved in the operation. Instead he was just really a cab driver who was at one point a security guard in Israel (everyone does that there). That Avner called George Jonas and told his story which became the basis of "Vengeance" and "Vengeance" became the basis of "Munich".
Still don't plan on seeing it, but thought I'd throw that out.

Interestingly, the Israeli government to this day will not acknowledge that they set out to kill the masterminds of the massacre. The people involved will talk about it (Ehud Barak, etc), but the government itself, nope. Was that in there?

[Bonster]

Yes, in the movie it was shown that the government went to great lengths to not have any visible link to Avner or the killings.

About Avner being a real person, I do realize that now. I had originally read an article that said otherwise, but then I read an interview with the author of the book and realized that Avner was a real person or based on a real person.

[memememe76]

Meh. I found it way too action-film Hollywood. I'm now gonna call it "The Israeli Job".

[heyalice]

I watched ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER last night. I don't even know where to begin..It was sooo good. Thanks again. Munich,I'll probably watch when it comes out on DVD.

[tamaradixon]

I saw this today with a full house. Ya could've heard a pin drop for the entire (almost) 3 hrs. Its a wonderful film and I highly recommend it. Eric Bana should get an Oscar nom out of this and I'd love to see Geoffrey Rush or Ciaran Hinds get a nod as well, but I bet they'll end up cancelling each other out.

Its def not a holiday film and I can see it having difficulties finding an audience at this time. I want to see it again actually as I've got a few questions. Its had me thinking about it all afternoon. Excellent.

[aiders]

I completely agree Tamara. I saw it last night and was spellbound. The performances are amazing and I'm stull haunted by it.

I strongly disagree with the "Israeli Job" criticism. The movie is part European spy thriller, part political statement (not very biased, the point is more about how violence begets violence and won't lead to peace than it is about Israel being great), and case study of the internal struggle of an assasin.

Loved it.