Still Kickin!

Munich with Eric Bana.

What a long movie! Went to see this flick Sunday night at Cronulla Cinema. If I'd known it was going to be an epic drama I would've suggested we see the early session. Although I enjoyed this movie it did have a tendency to drag on a bit. I think Speilberg ought to have exercised a little more editing but other than that I think it worth seeing however if you have to get up early in the morn take note, it is llloooooonnnnnnggggggggg.

David Bernstein of The Age wrote;
"Yes, the movie is, in my view, fundamentally flawed — and it has been widely panned by critics for its shortcomings as an action movie and as a realistic, credible re-enactment of actual events.

For me, however, the most egregious flaw lies not in the liberties Spielberg takes with historical accuracy (it's not a documentary) or any perceived "moral equivalence", but in the conception of the leading character, Avner (played by Australia's Eric Bana). The notion of a conscience-racked Mossad assassin leading a hit-team to avenge the Israeli athletes killed by Palestinian Black September terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics, borders on ludicrous."

Placing "moral equivalence" aside, I agree with Bernstein's view. To think an avenger or crusader such as Avner would lessen his resolve by a contemplation of conscience in connection with his "duty" assumes a certain sense of stupidity. For a character who regards terrorism a virtue, justifiable by some juvenile creed that they did it to me first, the very idea of conscience is absurd. However if one were to think of the film as absurd and that the theme behind all vengence is absurdity then conscience becomes a viable reality for an avenger, terrorist or crusader.

I think it interesting that one can find a parallel between Kafka's The Trial and Munich, insofar as the two characters appear to be in an existential crisis, both fighting for the right to exist. Where Joseph K's freedom is being threatened by a corrupt bureaucracy so it is with Avner's beloved Israel, to another State. I don't want to get into a political debate as I neither have the inclination nor the background knowledge, however it is interesting that absurdity is in every nook and cranny I peer into. Perhaps I seek it. Perhaps it is my own existential crisis, so it seems fitting that I should find some deeper sense of identification with the absurd than I do with "moral equivalence". The politics of morality are never too far afield however it is the absurd which I find delight in. I think it a matter of evolution that humanity is at war. One genome wants to dominate and if it means killing thy neighbour then so it will be. Genes care not for the morality of terrorism, they are mere self replicators and they desire existence just as much as Joseph K or Avner's Israel.

Such is life...or the trip we call life!