Let me get this out of the way- I love Steven Spielberg. For me, there is perhaps no better run of films by any director than Jaws- Close Encounters- Raiders- E.T.- a giddy appreciation of cinema as storybook, rollercoaster, parent and psychoanalyst all rolled into one. But even I was starting to despair- it’s been a downhill ride since the one- two punch of Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List in the early ‘90’s- alternating ‘serious’ fare like the overrated Private Ryan with supposed audience pleasers like The Terminal, the current career low. So I went into Munich with low expectations, often the best way to view a great film- you’re unprepared, ready for anything, willing to be surprised.
Munich is quite possibly a masterpiece. It’s huge, complex, a film to lose yourself in, and far more politically even- handed than you’d expect from a man in Spielberg’s position- no wonder it provoked anger on both sides of the conflict. The film is flawed, but most of the problems are inherent in the material- there are no truly sympathetic characters, and the script focuses on the Israelis, inevitably lending them more personality and depth than the Arabs (personally, I find it unlikely that Israeli secret service agents and government officials had a problem with collateral Arab civilian fatalities), but such inconsistencies are more than compensated for by the decisiveness and clarity of Spielberg’s vision, the sure hand of a master at work. It’s a film I’m already looking forward to reappraising, exploring, familiarising.
by Tom Huddleston | Source: 35mm Print
16 Feb 2006 8:25 AM | Submit Comment