Beautifully interweaving archive news footage, Munich opens with an historically accurate view of the events themselves before delving into an admittedly qualified yet convincing supposition of what happened next.
But within a few scenes the film almost completely eschews the act itself – and, for the most part, the politics – leaving a skilfully paced paranoia thriller more in the style of The French Connection than the innumerable TV movies that 'real-life events' like the massacre at Munich tend to spawn.
Of course, most of the praise deserves to be laid at the director's feet, though all the production values are clearly Oscar-worthy.
Arguably, Spielberg's greatest skill is his ability to skew even the biggest stories small, be they war games, fright-fests or tales of alien visitations both naughty and nice.
He also ensures that his central character is always clearly defined and easily relatable to the audience. In this case, Eric Bana makes the character actor/movie star crossover that eluded him in Hulk and Troy.
Guided by Spielberg's steady hand, Bana plays Avner - the Mossad bodyguard-turned-mission leader - with a focused humility that soon gives way to cold-hearted paranoia as the bodies pile up and retaliation seems inevitable.
It is as if Spielberg has been given his ceremonial "World’s Greatest Living Director" slippers and after a little bit of walking around is just getting comfortable in them.
His direction seems almost effortless; each moment segues so seamlessly into the next that one wonders if the film reels that make up Munich were created in a blinding light rather than crafted on soundstages and locations.
It is at his most brutal that Spielberg becomes most effective. Each tiny offhand moment of violence - blood spatters morphing into dusky clouds, a spent bullet cartridge plucked from a puddle of milk, diplomacy restored to an Al Green soul classic - is illustrated with a heartrending beauty.
Running at a hefty 164 minutes, some aspects do appear superfluous but if the alternative is a dumbing-down of action and plot, I'll take this deliberate and measured version every time.
Tim Postins
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