Munich

I saw the new Stephen Spielburg film, Munich, yesterday. I can't say I exactly recommend it although there were powerful moments. It's difficult to sit through dozens of brutal asassination scenes to get to the gems. I came home and told my wife that the movie made me physically sick. Because I was less than a year old when the the actual events of the Munich Olympics took place, I'm not really in a position to say how "accurate" the details were but there were some lasting impressions worth passing on:

• The Israeli/Palestinian conflict is really complicated and messy and there are no easy solutions (otherwise someone would have found them by now).
• There is no way you can convince me that violence is a pathway to peace. Violence only begets more violence.
• Revenge does not quiet the anxiety in the human  heart. The only way to peace is through forgiveness. Revenge only yields nightmares and broken lives.
• I think it was Ghandi who said, "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind." That should have been the subtitle of the movie. There are no "winners." Everyone loses.
• Not much has changed in the world in in 33 years.

Comments

[Tompaul W.]

I'm not sure the movie quite equals the sum of its parts, but it definitely sticks with you. I certainly don't recall James Bond ever tearing up his mattress to check for bombs.