Posted on 12/28/2005 10:27:44 AM PST by SquirrelKing
To potential flamethrowers:
I do not hate Israel and the Jooos.
I do not kiss a poster of Spielberg before I go to bed every night. [It is Cheryl Tiegs, circa 1982]
I just like to watch movies [and drink beer] and wish to share an interesting review of a film of note.
Thank you.
I'll probably go see it or get the DVD. Whether true or not, don't we wish it was true? That Israel was able to take out (with minimal collateral damage) terrorists?
If it ain't true, it oughtta be.
Top sends
Thank you for this review.
I greatly respect Jason Apuzzo the reviewer. He is a genuine Conservative, pro WOT, who has taken on the Hollywood left by creating a Conservative Film Festival with his wife who is an actress.
Also, just last night I was speaking with an Israeli who is pro-settler, anti Gaza pullout and Right of PM Sharon. She loved the film and said it portrayed Israel very positively. She made the same point as Apuzzo -- that the doubts of the Israeli Mossad operatives humanized them in contrast to the terrorists.
I will be seeing this film over the weekend.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" [It is Cheryl Tiegs, circa 1982]"
Don't forget Farah and "friends."
LOL!
a different take on Munich.
Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking the keyword Israel.
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Apuzzo and Murty absolutely ROCK, and this kind of thoughtful, in-depth review is rare - and appreciated!
Interesting. Thanks!
"Munich spends about 4/5 of its time portraying the Israeli Mossad and its mission of retribution against Black September in a heroic, serious and decidedly glamorous light."
Really? If this is the case then cinemas must fear martyrcide attacks by sympathizers of paleostinians.
"Lonsdale savors the subtleties of French cheese"
Oh, please. Papa's comment about American cheese was meant as an insult to Americans.
"I'm too committed to my prejudgement of this film to actually give it a look. Sorry."
I'll ruin it for you...Why on earth did they show Karl naked? Egads.
I have not yet seen the film (though I hope to do so soon). But the problem, as I understand it, is not that the Mossad is humanized, but that the terrorists are humanized, shown with their families, etc. This makes me sick and reminds me of how the communists in hollywood tried (but mostly failed) to deify the late sociopath Tookie (thank you Terminator for standing up to your Hollywood colleagues!)
Spielberg did a great job with Schindler's List, making the horror of the holocaust accessible to people in the context of a heroic story (Oscar Schindler). I expected that he would do something similar with Munich. But instead it appears - at least from other reviewers - that he has tried to humanize both sides with same moral equivalency crap that is being taught in universities. Contrast this to a Clint film like Dirty Harry, an Arnold film, or even a Bronson film like Death Wish - where there is no moral ambiguity, no doubt as to who is the good guy, and no sympathy whatsoever for the evildoers who meet their just ends.
Now I appreciate as much as anyone a film or TV show that depicts its characters in shades of gray (Exhibit A - Tony Soprano). But the Munich terrorists do not deserve such treatment. The 1972 massacre - like 9/11 - could not be more black & white. Terrorists who murder innocent civilians are evil, hunting them down is good and just. There is no moral ambiguity to explore here.
From the review:
Spielberg depicts these men as unrelentingly cynical, violent, decadent. No morality adheres to their cause. Not for a second do we root for them. But they’re depicted as having the media on their side, and friends in all the right places. For example, at one point the Black September terrorists are brought before TV cameras in Libya, free and smiling like jackals. The media loves them, treating them like rock stars. No one bothers to ask them a hard, serious question. Instead they’re allowed to preen like Pamela Anderson.
I feel the same as you do, but wonder [having also not seen the film] if they are truly being humanized in the way the left is jumping to laud and conservatives are condemning. If he does, then shame on him. However, Apuzzo's review here gives me pause.
"but that the terrorists are humanized, shown with their families, etc. This makes me sick and reminds me of how the communists in hollywood tried (but mostly failed) to deify the late sociopath Tookie (thank you Terminator for standing up to your Hollywood colleagues!)"
Yes, that would get me sick too. But according to the review that does not happen.
When one considers the demonization of Israelis in the press, especially the soldiers who are often portrayed as sadistic unwarranted killers of children, torturers of pregnant women and the sick at checkpoints, a movie that shows them as thoughtful and brooding over the taking of lives, even lowlife terrorists, may be a welcome change.
He is right in the review.... Up until the end I was wondering what all the talk was about it being a left leaning, anti Israel film. During the entire course of the movie the Israelis are shown as they are doing righteous work and not being portrayed as bloodthirtsy killers.
At the end though when he accuses Israel of trying to go after his family, and what not is pure speculation on Kushner's part and ruins the whole film.It's not that Avner is just overwhelmed at the killings he has done, he actually thinks what he did was wrong in the end.
This left a really bad taste in my mouth, especially since people seeing this movie will think this is how the events really occurred.
If they were going to make a fiction movie, maybe they should have stated that as opposed to the vaguely written "Inspired by True Events".
IMHO, Spielberg wrecked his film by letting the leftist writer make it something the Jonas book was not. Azner had some justification to be angry with his handlers as they drained his bank account for all the money that he had earned during the time of the action (years at $3000 per month in salary was stolen from his account in Switzerland). I would be pissed at that unjustified action too.
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