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December 27, 2005
Munich: The Most Over-Hyped Movie of the Year
I can't get it. I don't understand David Brooks lambasting the film in a NYT op-ed for having the audacity to present Palestinians as three-dimensional human beings. (I was disgusted by the article; but it made me excited for the film: Palestinians as human beings is always a sign of reality to me.) And every trailer seemed to scream Reviewers Around The World Love This Movie And So Will You. Alas, I couldn't. I left the theater angry, wanting to get into an argument with everyone in the world who enjoyed the film.
Let's get something straight - allowing characters in a film to be human beings with back stories and thoughts about the future is not the same thing as giving an even-handed account of their lives. I'm not saying terrorism is justified. I'm saying that the Jewish murderers acted just as criminally as the Palestinian murderers. The film ends with a few words about how many of the originally sought Palestinians were murdered. It says nothing about the fate of the main protagonist, or that no one was ever convicted for the murders portrayed on film. I get that the film was inspired by real events and is not a documentary. But the world is a seriously fucked up place when this trite swan song for Israel is crucified as being anti-Israel.
I guess my political views overshadow my ability to enjoy the film. Sure, I can agree with the reviewers that there were nail-biting procedural thriller scenes and I'm a sucker for those kind of scenes; I'd never call a procedural movie the stand out #1 movie of the year. Everyone seems to think Spielberg broke new ground by having a single comprehensible scene where a Palestinian articulates a motive for terrorism. But its telling that you can't really understand the Palestinian family featured at the beginning of the movie; and you never see Palestine in this film. All you see is stalwart Holocaust-surviving Jews who, against all stereotypes of my fine ethnicity, have the courage to use big guns and loud explosives to murder their neighbors.
Is no one else outraged? Whether or not this movie is based on reality or fantasy, Israel continues to murder Palestinians with impunity, justifying its actions as being provoked by suicide bombings. There is a really good reason that, at least officially and in full view of US law, the US government cannot assassinate people. You cannot promote law and order, democracy, and civilization by murdering people.
My heart was filled with outrage and sadness when I left the theater. I cannot believe this is a controversial film. I cannot believe people actually think this film gives Palestinians a fair shake. I cannot believe mainstream society cannot grasp that Palestinians are just as human, just as capable of governing themselves and being civilized as any other group of humans - from slaves in colonial America to black South Africans to Indians under British colonial rule - humans everywhere strive for independence and deserve the ability to be treated humanely, and not be collectively punished for the horrible crimes of a few people.
More info:
Ebert's review / plot summary
Rotten Tomatoes entry
Manohla Dargis review in the NYT
David Edelstein's review in Slate (probably the best of the bunch)
Posted by cj at December 27, 2005 09:23 PM