Munich...
—1. Overview
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages
—4. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—5. Posters (Eric Bana)
—6. Production Notes (pdf)
—7. Spiritual Connections
—8. Presentation Downloads
It is far too rare that films today reach into the heart of a culture, and challenge its very foundation. And although Munich could have been so much more, it is nonetheless a film that I believe has the potential to challenge the American culture. How can it change American culture? By reminding us that the answer to terrorism is not more war, killing, and death, but finding some middle ground, where justice is served, but peace becomes a reality.
Munich stars Eric Bana (Avner) who plays an Israeli assassin given the task to kill the people involved in planning the Munich terrorist attack in 1972. At this point, Steven Spielberg begins to write a movie that one would not expect to find in America. After all, in these days, with the war on terror, most Americans want to bomb, kill, and torture any terrorist or potential terrorist. Thus one would expect Spielberg to glorify the murder of the 11 people involved in the planning of Munich. If this is your expectation, Munich will be a disappointment.
The problem is that such a mentality (a mentality like America currently has) sees only one side to the argument. Spielberg did not take the approach of Israel as only good, and Palestine as only bad. Instead, Spielberg approached terrorism in an intelligent and bold manner.
The interesting thing about the movie Munich is that Spielberg is so incredibly neutral. You feel for Israel. You feel for Palestine. But most importantly, you want the killing to end.
The best part of the film is a conversation that Avner has with Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz). Robert says, "We're supposed to be righteous. I lose that, that is my soul." This quote comes in a conversation where Robert wonders why Israel, the chosen people of God, could be caught up in such killing.
Granted, I know what many responses will be to such a point. After all, is such killing not justified because of the horrible acts of terrorism? That is a question that Spielberg invites us to ask. But he does not provide an answer in this film, only what the results are of the current mentality A current mentality that has led Americans to question our war in Iraq, and further, to become acquainted with the Middle East more than ever before.
SPOILER WARNING:
The end of the film is a powerful scene where Geoffrey Rush's character is trying to get Avner to go back to being an assassin. Avner declines because he wants to remain with his new daughter and family. After Avner declines, he invites Rush back to his home, 'to break bread.' Rush declines and walks away, signifying the options that we have. Either we can continue killing, or we can break bread.
Granted, I understand what many will say in response to this. You cannot break bread with terrorism. They must be met with force and destruction. And however much I understand that viewpoint, I must say that as a Christian, I simply disagree.
SOME NON MOVIE RELATED POLITICAL COMMENTARY:
As Christians, we are called to love our enemy and pray for those who persecute us. Moreover, we are called to turn the other cheek, and told that Jesus was not leading a rebellion with swords. So, what was the church's response to such a problem? For the first 300 years, the church refused to take up arms against others, even though they were being persecuted, killed, and oppressed by the Roman government. What was the result? The church grew exponentially.
Evangelical Christians have unequivocally supported the war in Iraq, and the result has been somewhere between 30,000 (Bush's estimate, probably more) and 100,000 (Amnesty International's estimate, probable less) dead Iraqi civilians. I bring this up only to hope that today's Christians will go see Munich and wrestle with such massive killing.
I know I am some optimistic idealist. But Munich gives me hope. It gives me hope that we can break bread together. It gives me hope that we can come to grips with our mentality that we should kill any who dare even think of threatening us. It gives me hope that we can come to a day when we will strive to break bread and end war, not look to start i. That rather than concentrate on killing we can concentrate on peaceful resolutions between Palestine and Israel, between Americans and terrorists. I know that is dumb. I know that is unrealistic. But it is something I pray for everyday, and I challenge all Christians to do the same.
For me, Munich is the best film of 2005. Not because it was entertaining, made me laugh, or made me cry. So, what did Munich do? It made me wrestle with my own sins. There is perhaps not a greater compliment I can give a film.
— Overview
— Cast and Crew
— Photo Pages
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages
—4. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—5. Posters (Eric Bana)
—6. Production Notes (pdf)
—7. Spiritual Connections
—8. Presentation Downloads
It is far too rare that films today reach into the heart of a culture, and challenge its very foundation. And although Munich could have been so much more, it is nonetheless a film that I believe has the potential to challenge the American culture. How can it change American culture? By reminding us that the answer to terrorism is not more war, killing, and death, but finding some middle ground, where justice is served, but peace becomes a reality.Munich stars Eric Bana (Avner) who plays an Israeli assassin given the task to kill the people involved in planning the Munich terrorist attack in 1972. At this point, Steven Spielberg begins to write a movie that one would not expect to find in America. After all, in these days, with the war on terror, most Americans want to bomb, kill, and torture any terrorist or potential terrorist. Thus one would expect Spielberg to glorify the murder of the 11 people involved in the planning of Munich. If this is your expectation, Munich will be a disappointment.
The problem is that such a mentality (a mentality like America currently has) sees only one side to the argument. Spielberg did not take the approach of Israel as only good, and Palestine as only bad. Instead, Spielberg approached terrorism in an intelligent and bold manner.
The interesting thing about the movie Munich is that Spielberg is so incredibly neutral. You feel for Israel. You feel for Palestine. But most importantly, you want the killing to end.
The best part of the film is a conversation that Avner has with Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz). Robert says, "We're supposed to be righteous. I lose that, that is my soul." This quote comes in a conversation where Robert wonders why Israel, the chosen people of God, could be caught up in such killing.
Granted, I know what many responses will be to such a point. After all, is such killing not justified because of the horrible acts of terrorism? That is a question that Spielberg invites us to ask. But he does not provide an answer in this film, only what the results are of the current mentality A current mentality that has led Americans to question our war in Iraq, and further, to become acquainted with the Middle East more than ever before.
SPOILER WARNING:
The end of the film is a powerful scene where Geoffrey Rush's character is trying to get Avner to go back to being an assassin. Avner declines because he wants to remain with his new daughter and family. After Avner declines, he invites Rush back to his home, 'to break bread.' Rush declines and walks away, signifying the options that we have. Either we can continue killing, or we can break bread.
Granted, I understand what many will say in response to this. You cannot break bread with terrorism. They must be met with force and destruction. And however much I understand that viewpoint, I must say that as a Christian, I simply disagree.
SOME NON MOVIE RELATED POLITICAL COMMENTARY:
As Christians, we are called to love our enemy and pray for those who persecute us. Moreover, we are called to turn the other cheek, and told that Jesus was not leading a rebellion with swords. So, what was the church's response to such a problem? For the first 300 years, the church refused to take up arms against others, even though they were being persecuted, killed, and oppressed by the Roman government. What was the result? The church grew exponentially.
Evangelical Christians have unequivocally supported the war in Iraq, and the result has been somewhere between 30,000 (Bush's estimate, probably more) and 100,000 (Amnesty International's estimate, probable less) dead Iraqi civilians. I bring this up only to hope that today's Christians will go see Munich and wrestle with such massive killing.
I know I am some optimistic idealist. But Munich gives me hope. It gives me hope that we can break bread together. It gives me hope that we can come to grips with our mentality that we should kill any who dare even think of threatening us. It gives me hope that we can come to a day when we will strive to break bread and end war, not look to start i. That rather than concentrate on killing we can concentrate on peaceful resolutions between Palestine and Israel, between Americans and terrorists. I know that is dumb. I know that is unrealistic. But it is something I pray for everyday, and I challenge all Christians to do the same.
For me, Munich is the best film of 2005. Not because it was entertaining, made me laugh, or made me cry. So, what did Munich do? It made me wrestle with my own sins. There is perhaps not a greater compliment I can give a film.
— Overview
— Cast and Crew
— Photo Pages
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