Munich

Aroview: Compelling, if occasionally muddily-overearnest thriller based around the aftermath of the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games by the Palestinian Black September group, when Mossad agents were instructed to track down and eliminate those responsible.

Clearly dir. Speilberg's most powerful film since SCHINDLER'S LIST, the drama centres around the Israeli unit commander (Bana) who is drawn into a murky web of shadowy intelligence sources, bomb-making, botched retributions, 'collateral damage' and the basic zero-sum gain calculations of international politics. Although attempting to humanise those on all 'sides' of the Palestine issue (he has called the film a "prayer for peace"), Speilberg essentially sticks close to his blockbuster blueprint, weaving a dense, distressing and sometimes comic story with customary skill and occasional sentimentality.

If finally the essential issues prove as intractable within the Hollywood format as in the real world, this is recommended as a heartfelt attempt to grapple with one of the great political matters of our age.

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