Reply #40: I saw the film today

[fujiyama]

and I don't know what Mr. Danoch is talking about regarding moral ambiguity.

I saw no moral ambiguity. I only saw wrongs commited by two sides. The film shows the Israeli athletes murdered in extremely graphic detail. There is no ambiguity here. They are murdered in cold blood and Spielburg makes no mistake about that.

I then saw the Israelis decide to seek vengeance and commit crimes themselves. The questions raised are perhaps those that governments would rather not ask - you can kill the leadership and the henchman, but new ones inevitably emerge. Ultimately, political solutions are erquired. The cycle of violence is obviously something the likes of Mr. Danoch would rather not contend. In fact, Spielburg actually leaves out what was likely the most emberassing mistake by the Israelis - the murder of an innocent Moraccon waiter in Lilihammer, Norway.

I remember reading a great book about this years ago (named One Day in September) so when I found out Spielburg was making a film on the Munich massacre, I was very interested. Amazingly, the events were just as disturbing as I remember reading. It is a well done film.

The book also had an interesting section abuot the reaction of the families of the murdered athletes. I believe several were disappointed with the actions of the Israeli government. They preferred actually capturing the terrorists and punishing them in a court of law.