Spielberg's "Munich" Gamble

[minusthejihad]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...688263,00.html

Spielberg gambles on Mossad revenge

In the old Maltese town of Rabat, the 58-year-old director was re-enacting the death of Wael Zwaiter, a cousin of Yasser Arafat, gunned down in the lobby of his Rome apartment by Israeli secret agents.

The scene is a pivotal moment in Vengeance, the working title for the £60m film which opens at the 1972 Munich Olympics, where 11 Israeli athletes were kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists and killed.

Most of the film recounts the revenge assassinations carried out over the following two years by squads sent out by Mossad, the Israeli secret service. In the film, agents are played by the Australian Eric Bana and British star Daniel Craig.

Spielberg is determined to keep the exact contents of the film secret until it opens in December, but some Israelis already feel “betrayed” by him.

They feel the most famous Jewish film-maker is casting a spotlight on events they would rather keep lower key, including the shooting of an innocent Norwegian waiter mistaken for a Munich terrorist.

I don't care what the nuance is, IF I pay money to watch this film, you can bet your a$$ that I will be the one in the back clapping loudly at every single gruesome, yet justice serving assassination!

[Mediocrates]

Some of the buzz has been mixed. There's a sense that this is his anti-schindler, that Spielberg isn't all that pro Israel and that the movie is more of a condemnation of violence in general. Everyone's violence. A soft moral equivalency. Of course no one's who's seen it can comment directly.

[minusthejihad]

Some of the buzz has been mixed. There's a sense that this is his anti-schindler, that Spielberg isn't all that pro Israel and that the movie is more of a condemnation of violence in general. Everyone's violence. A soft moral equivalency. Of course no one's who's seen it can comment directly.

Yes, that's the jist that I got. And reading the article, I had no idea that his parents purposefully tried so hard to loose their Jewishness. (First thing my parents did when they moved here was to put me in a Yeshiva). Apparently, he had to go off and research what it meant to be a Jew himself. Between him and Streisand, the most pro-Israel views I have seen from Hollywood have come from Chris Noth (Sex and the City).

Did anyone catch last night's Law and Order (I think?) about the Synagogue in New York, a fake old Torah book from Poland, and the two Jewish cousins who hated each other because of Judaism? Ick.

[Mediocrates]

Did anyone catch last night's Law and Order (I think?) about the Synagogue in New York, a fake old Torah book from Poland, and the two Jewish cousins who hated each other because of Judaism? Ick.

In another context it's a Yiddish fable. Or maybe the story of Jacob and Esau.

[Semsem]

Are you kidding? They wanted to lose their Jewishness?

His mother runs a Kosher Jewish restaurant in Los Angeles. I ate there.

[minusthejihad]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...688263,00.html

From the article:

For Spielberg the film is personal. Friends in Los Angeles say that, for him, it is all about exploring what it means to be Jewish, an issue that has driven the director from the Protestant suburbs where he was raised and set early films such as E T. The same motive came to fruition in Schindler’s List, his Oscar-winning 1993 film about the Holocaust.

“Steven has been more worried about getting this film right than he was about Schindler’s List, because he feels if it fails it could make the Israeli-Palestinian situation worse,” said a source in a circle of religious advisers he consulted.

“He feels the weight of the world on his shoulders. His family and friends are telling him he can do something positive with this film, but he cannot even talk about it. If he could, maybe he would not need to make the film.”

Spielberg was raised as a “modern Jew” by his mother, Leah, who avoided living in Jewish areas in Arizona and California so that he could learn to blend in. It did not work.

“Everyone knew I was Jewish, and I was embarrassed that I could not fit in” he said later.

[genghis_tom]

Some of the buzz has been mixed. There's a sense that this is his anti-schindler, that Spielberg isn't all that pro Israel and that the movie is more of a condemnation of violence in general. Everyone's violence. A soft moral equivalency. Of course no one's who's seen it can comment directly.

The movie does sound as if it is fairly unbiased. It covers violent acts by both sides, and does not point fingers exclusively at one party or the other. Mr. Spielberg is not, by any stretch of the imagination, "betraying" the Jewish people.

[Mediocrates]

I didn't say he was. But there is a buzz about it. http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/ne...p3?artid=11755

[minusthejihad]

It covers violent acts by both sides,.

No. Terrorism against innocent Israeli athletes is violence and wrong. The German's poor handling of the situation is wrong.

Hunting down and murdering every single one of these sick phucks was JUSTICE and very right!

[genghis_tom]

Uncalled for violence and deserving violence are still violent. And I know that what happened to those athletes is wrong, and that justice was rightfully served. The fact remains that it is still violence.

[minusthejihad]

Uncalled for violence and deserving violence are still violent. And I know that what happened to those athletes is wrong, and that justice was rightfully served. The fact remains that it is still violence.

Fine. But it's violence I outright condone and can only wish that every single terrorist AND their supporters are treated to some. And no, I don't believe it is a vicious cycle, more like instant karma.

[Mediocrates]

Uncalled for violence and deserving violence are still violent. And I know that what happened to those athletes is wrong, and that justice was rightfully served. The fact remains that it is still violence.

An ethicist would say, 'maybe'. Maybe, sometimes is violence not only necessary and just but righteous. The conditions are narrow the scope is vague, but it's possible, at least in terms of the greater good.

[minusthejihad]

The bottom line is, and I believe someone at the bottom of the article raises a similar point: The world hates Jews who take action. Who defend themselves. Who don't double-think every action. Who know right from wrong. This movie seems to be a testament to the World's discomfort with strong Jews.

[Dark Agent]

Some of the buzz has been mixed. There's a sense that this is his anti-schindler, that Spielberg isn't all that pro Israel and that the movie is more of a condemnation of violence in general. Everyone's violence. A soft moral equivalency. Of course no one's who's seen it can comment directly.

Read the book Vengence before you give an opinion of Speilberg. In my opinion this is his finest work yet. As a film maker he does not take sides but stays true to the book and the work of the actors both Israeli and Palestinian was remarkable. In fact one of the Athletes who was killed in Munich was played by his own son who was a baby at the time he father was killed. It was unsettleling to see the scene where he was killed as his father was. I beleive this film exposes a great deal of emotion that needs to be dealt with and makes you think when you leave the theater.
It was a tragic event that happened in 1972 and those responsible needed to be brought to justice even if justice was served through revenge. See the movie and make your own decision. But leave Speilberg alone. Those that think he wanted to give up his "Jewishness" happen to be avid readers of rag papers like the "Globe" and the "Inquierer". "Gossip" is a 6 letter word that speaks volumes about the lonely soul that keeps the lie alive.
By the way, this reply is not directed to you, but more for others to read.

[Mira]

Read the book Vengence before you give an opinion of Speilberg. In my opinion this is his finest work yet. As a film maker he does not take sides but stays true to the book and the work of the actors both Israeli and Palestinian was remarkable. In fact one of the Athletes who was killed in Munich was played by his own son who was a baby at the time he father was killed. It was unsettleling to see the scene where he was killed as his father was. I beleive this film exposes a great deal of emotion that needs to be dealt with and makes you think when you leave the theater.
It was a tragic event that happened in 1972 and those responsible needed to be brought to justice even if justice was served through revenge. See the movie and make your own decision. But leave Speilberg alone. Those that think he wanted to give up his "Jewishness" happen to be avid readers of rag papers like the "Globe" and the "Inquierer". "Gossip" is a 6 letter word that speaks volumes about the lonely soul that keeps the lie alive.
By the way, this reply is not directed to you, but more for others to read.

I'm going to see it in two hours. My fiance (who is Israei) wasn't going to see it with me at first, but he's changed his mind. He didn't want to see it at first because as he said...."The only reason you want to see this film is so that you can talk about it on the Israel Forum."

So it's come down to that.