THE CITIZEN ON MARS

Steven Speilberg is stepping back into a film genre that had made him a modern cinema icon in “Schindler’s List”, that is, in the realm of true-to-life drama. In “Munich”, Speilberg wades deep into political controversy that is not merely timely nowadays, but may also affect the courses of events as it can open old wounds, possibly swaying political compromises such as the ongoing (but yet to be complete) pull-out of Israeli occupation from Gaza.

“Munich” is being hailed by Paul Clinton of CNN as ” a masterpiece”,an acclaim rarely heard these days and this got me really excited. Perhaps, the last time that a movie had filled me with so much anticipation was when Oliver Stone’s “JFK” was about to hit the screen and it did not let me down. I have a great feeling that “Munich” would similarly satisfy my cravings and judging by the online trailers of Steven Speilberg’s latest ouvre, it may just surpass everybody else’s expectations. Watching snippets of the film, one could be amazed by the stark realism portrayed in it. The 70’s environment and feel is so well captured in details, even right to the very retro-looking buildings where the violent scenes had supposedly happened. The staggered takes by the cameras, the rolling shots and atypical angles effectively exhibits that real-life feel on the movie screen, as if the viewers are watching a real live event happening right-here-right-now and not merely going through a movie. Realism is high in this movie. Just like the controversy that got Speilberg so embroiled lately.

When Roger Ebert, that famous movie critic, deemed the movie as he almost “the revenge of vengeance”, spelled the whole controversy in four letters. Speilberg stressed that he had rendered the issues behind the famous massacre with utmost neutrality and ultimate objectivity but since “Munich” opened in theaters, he had been bombarded by scorching criticisms from all factions—from the pro-Israeli and pro-PLO alike—where pro-Israelis lamented his expositions about the moral questions of vengeance undertaken by the Israeli government, when it had ordered the assassination of the remaining Black September militants while pro-PLO sectors blamed the Jewish director for misportraying the PLO-militants who had massacred 11 Israeli athletes in 1972, forgetting that the Palestinian also deserved a homeland as much as Israelis do, and that the basis for the violence was political in character and not merely the evil urge to kill and maim. In his own words, Speilberg defended his film by categorically stating that he had not intended to portray the Palestinians as demons and the Israelis as saints.

One morning in September 5 of 1972, a band of men camouflaging as athletes scaled the walls of the olympic village in Munich and knock on the door of the apartment where the Israeli wrestling team was quareterd and shortly then, gunfires were heard and three Israeli athletes lay dead on the ground (allegedly trying to run away from their assailants) and armed men from the Palestinian Liberation Organization sect named Black September held eight other Israeli athletes as hostages. Furious negotiations soon followed where the hostagers demanded the release of 200 arab prisoners held by Israeli government and that they and the hostages be airlifted to Cairo in contemplation of escape. What happened afterwards shocked the whole world to no end where German snipers miscalculated the number of hostagers and an attempted raid by the German authorities was bungled as the helicopter carrying the Israeli hostages exploded from a grenade thrown by a surviving Black September militant. All 8 Israelis onboard the helicopter was killed in the explosions while three hostagers had survived and taken in by the German police. A month later, a Lufthansa jetliner was hijacked by a band of terrorists and demanded the release of the three Black September hostagers and the German authorities amazingly gave in to the demand and freed the three militants who had taken part in the Munich Massacre. In response to the release of the Black September militants, then-Israeli Prime Minister Gorda Meir ordered the formation of an assassination squad to hunt down the people responsible behind the Munich incident. Ever since, available records had confirmed that every Black September militant on the hitlist were all liquidated by the Israeli assassination squad.

Now, Speilberg’s “Munich” ultimately poses the question of whether or not the assassinations carried out by the Israeli authorities was a justifiable action. Whether or not vengeance is a moral undertaking and whether or not it can be justified as a necessary means to a justifiable end. In one scene, the character played by Eric Bana, as the leader of the assassination squad, loudly spoke out his mind and relayed his reservation to his companions as to the morality of their mission. He voiced out that his religion forbade vengeance and if their assassination targets were guilty, they should instead be arrested, tried and punished in accordance with law.

The questions posed by “Munich” resonates with urgency especially now that the world is struggling with the scourge of terrorism and the extreme havoc that it had brought on humanity. The massacre in Munich of 11 Israeli athletes by members of the Black September is deemed by many today as the day where modern terrorism was born. Maybe, this movie could give us a rare and profound insight into the roots of terrorism and how it had evolved today into such a very vicious global debacle.