Munich (2005)

Country: USA
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Genre: Political Drama
Rating: 6.8/10

What can one expect when one of the most influential Jews in Hollywood Makes a movie on a historic incident like the Munich Olympics masaccre? The answer is simple. A good one, more importantly an unbiased one.

Spielberg, in his latest movie gives an insight into what followed after the 1972 Black September Massacre (Adapted to screen from the book - Venegeance by George Jonas), where Palestinian terrorists broke into the olympic dorm taking eleven israeli atheletes hostage. The infamous standoff ended in all hostages being killed.

Munich, tells the story of Avner (Erica Bana - the incredible Hulk, Black Hawk Down), an Israeli intelligence officer who is sent to Europe to lead a team on an undercover operation which will hunt down people involved in the terrorist attacks leading to deaths of the Israeli atheletes. As the team follows leads from sources , the members Carl (Ciaran Hinds - The cook, the thief his wife and her lover, and Veronica Guerin), and Robert (Mathieu Kassovtiz - Amelie) , and later Avner realize that "an eye for an eye" response is not the solution, and that his (Avner) own family may be in danger.

I only became aware of this incident a few days before the movie got publicized. So I cannot really comment on the politics of this unfortunate incident. But what I can comment on is the movie. And this movie so to speak is more or less engaging like Spielberg's previous works such as Saving Private Ryan, and Empire of the Sun, with its realistic portrayal 0f violence. The memorable scences in the movie are the scenes involving the hits carried out by Avner and his team, they have a sense of rush. Credit should go to Tony Cushner and Eric roth for their thoughtful and at times gripping screenplay. Ace Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, has always been a class apart when it came to setting up cameras and composing shots (and I thought he aptly displayed his superiority in SPR, and Minority Report). His work is surely worth an oscar nomination.

This is a director's movie. In other words, there are no standout peroformances by the actors, although the casting directors have done good job of gathering the right ensemble. But worth mentioning are notable performances by Geoffrey Rush (Shakespear in Love, Pirates of the Carribean) as Ephraim, and Ayelet Zorer - Avner's wife in the movie. But will it win an Oscar for best picture or director? well...... with strong competetion from movies like Ang lee's Brokeback Mountain, Bennet Miller's Capote, Meirelles's The Constant Gardener, clooney's Good Night and Good Luck, I have my doubts.

On a final note, whether or not it wins an oscar, Munich is still a thoughtful movie which gives us an oppurtunity to look back in time and realize the consequence(s) of violence.

Prasad

Three Colors

Country: France/Poland/Switzerland
Dir: Krzysztof Kieślowski
Genre: psychological/romantic Drama

Trois Couleurs - This was the last of the movies made by acclaimed polish writer, director Krzysztof Kieślowski. Three colors - blue, white, and red the colors of the french flag that represent liberty, equality, and fraternity are portrayed in these movies as their theme, altough they are not be explicitly apparent to the viewer. The central characters in the trilogy are all women except in white, the story revolves around an obsessive male character.

Before I say something about the story line, there are a few things I'd like to mention briefly. Three colors is Visually stunning. Cinematographer Piotr Sobocinski's work reminded me of Conrad Hall 's work in American beauty. The background scores for Blue, and Red, are tailor made for screenplay just like Vertigo's. and finally, The movies have few dialogues. Kieslowski makes effecftive use of images/symbols in this trilogy.


Bleu - Rating: 7.0/10

The first if the three movies, the movie Blue (Bleu) deals with emotional liberty. It is set in paris, where Julie (Juliette Binoche - The English Patient, Chocolat), the wife of composer Patrice, must cope with his and their daughter's death in a car accident, one that she too wishes shouldn't have survived. When in hospital, she tries to kill herself, but seems like she's overwhelmed by pain from the accident. From that point on, she tries to dissociate herself of everything from her past life by trying to get rid of things relating to her husband and her daughter including her husbands last musical compositions. Along the way she befriends a Prostitute/neighbor, and falls in love with her husbands aide - Olivier, and helps Sandrine her late husbands pregnant mistress of whom she knew nothing of until after the accident.


White - Rating: 6.5/10

The movie White (Blanc) deals with moral basis of equality, and revenge. Set in warsaw, it tells the story of a man named karol karol (Zbgniew Zamachowski) who is obsessively in love with his wife Dominique (July delpy - before sunrise, before sunset). karol is unable to satsify her sexual apetite, which leads to a divorce, and leaves him homeless. and to add to the misery he's left penniless. karol comes back home to Poland back to where he started, working as a hair dresser in their salon with his brother. But karol has other plans. He starts investing in property, sells them, makes money and in the process starts his own business with an old pal, and all this for what? to get his wife back to love him. But what we realize later is that his intentions are beyond that.


Red - Rating: 7.9/10

The last of the triology, Red (Rouge) deals with Fraternity, and is undoubtedly the crowning glory of Kieslowski's Masterpiece. A fantastic movie. The climax of the movie is one the most memorable ones, powerful and shocking like the sixth sense, and the ring. Don't be mislead by this comparison, this is not a horror movie!! Kieslowski makes use of a technique called retroactive narration which is reason enough to watch it more than once. and with each additional viewing you will discover something new and increasingly appreciate it. The reason I have chosen not to outline the plot unlike the other two is because this is movie much more than what meets the eye. You may find yourself watching this movie rather staring at the screen not being able to perceive the message and intensity it conveys...yawning and wondering what it is all about. This is not a movie for the imbeciles.You must examine.... not just see. All in all a wonderful movie that is sure to make a lasting impression on a true movie connoisseur.

Prasad.