Munich - Bigger Than Life

As a cinematic experience, Munich was a tour de force of operatic camera work. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I had trouble with a few scenes particularly toward the end, but as always with Steven Spielberg and Janusz Kaminski, they've earned whatever conceits they choose to indulge by the sheer virtuosity in the greater scheme of the film.

In a telephone interview with American Cinematographer, Kaminski reflects that the task of re-creating historical events offers a cinematographer a range of possible approaches. Whereas Schindler’s List was characterized by a sober mise-en-scène and stark black-and-white imagery (see AC Jan. ’94), the approach for Munich was more “distanced,” says Kaminski. “We wanted this to feel like a movie, bigger than life. Our goal was not to simply re-create reality. The subject matter is too fresh, too relevant to what’s happening today. We wanted a bit of distance and didn’t want viewers to think we were doing a propaganda movie. Whereas there’s a clear knowledge of who the bad guys are in Schindler’s List, this film is more ambiguous, more complex. We didn’t want to make a simple moral statement.”

Some other things I loved about Munich:
Eric Bana's work. Compelling. Honest. Moment to moment he was absolutely there.
Ayelet Zurer. Beautiful. Free. Complex. Playing the wife of the far traveling hero ain't easy. Small part, yes. Small actor, no.
The colors. Greens and golds. But a Dream is to be gold, silver and green.
The light. Rich. Shadowy. Perfect.
Mathieu Amalric. He reminded me of a young Roman Polanski in Chinatown.
The shot on the Main River in Frankfurt shot in dawn's early light, the characters silhouetted in the fog. I spent many a night strolling along the Main with my first love long ago.
Geoffrey Rush.Nothing more need be said.

Magnifico.

Ciao,
Signore Direttore