Munich según Spielberg

According to the New York Times, Steven Spielberg´s Munich feature film will look at “the tale of a secret Mossad hit squad ordered to assassinate Palestinian terrorists after the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.” Having already tackled such thought provoking material as the Holocaust in Schindler's List, and soldiers during World War II in Saving Private Ryan, this film about Israeli/Palestinian relations could be his most controversial movie yet.

The film will star Eric Bana as the lead Israeli assassin, with Daniel Craig, Geoffrey Rush and Mathieu Kassovitz. Spielbeg has said that the attack in Munich - which was done by Black September, a faction of the P.L.O.'s Fatah organization - and Israel’s subsequent response "a defining moment in the modern history of the Middle East.".

By looking at such a controversial part of Israeli history - one that brought into the spotlight the tactic known as targeted killings - Spielberg runs the risk of hurting his “stature” with Jews in the United States as well as Israel. Culled from many sources, the film has been scripted by playwright Tony Kushner (“Angels In America”), Charles Randolph (TheInterpreter) and Eric Roth (Ali). What makes this project doubly controversial are reports that some of the information for the screenplay was taken from George Jonas’ book, “Vengeance”. This book is based on an account from a supposed member of Mossad’s assassination team, but later this team member’s legitimacy was questioned by many. Spielberg has reportedly been advised from everyone to his own rabbi, to former American diplomat Dennis Russ, to even former President Bill Clinton.“Viewing Israel's response to Munich through the eyes of the men who were sent to avenge that tragedy adds a human dimension to a horrific episode that we usually think about only in political or military terms," Spielberg said. "By experiencing how the implacable resolve of these men to succeed in their mission slowly gave way to troubling doubts about what they were doing, I think we can learn something important about the tragic standoff we find ourselves in today."

Universal Pictures has already scheduled an Oscar season release for December 23rd, 2005.

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A drama about the 1972 Munich Olympics where Black September Palestinian terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes is being filmed by Steven Spielberg, who is courting controversy by concentrating on the bloody aftermath as the murders were avenged. The material is so delicate that the project, which has been filmed in Malta, is shrouded in secrecy.

For while movies like 1977's Raid on Entebbe, starring Peter Finch and Horst Buchholz, portray Israel in a heroic stance, the new picture is about the misgivings of Golda Meir, the then Israeli prime minister, as agents from Mossad tracked down the perpetrators.

The film, with Eric Bana as the lead Israeli assassin, is expected to feature the killing of the Palestinian Mohammad Hamshiri, who answered his phone in Paris to fall victim to a radio-detonated bomb under his desk, and the death of Mohammad Boudia, the director of operations for Black September, in a car bomb explosion.

The climax will show how the Israeli operatives, tired after months of undercover work, killed Ahmed Bouchike, a Moroccan waiter they mistook for a Palestinian leader. Israel has never claimed responsibility for the team, which included Ehud Barak, the future prime minister, who dressed as a woman to surprise three PLO leaders in Beirut.

There is concern in Jerusalem that such a notable Jew as Spielberg has apparently avoided using the government's archives for his research, although Dennis Ross, formerly Bill Clinton's key Middle East diplomat, consulted by the director, has alerted the Israelis to the script.

Daniel Craig, one of the British stars of the film, said that the screenplay is a less-than-flattering portrayal of Israeli tactics. "It's about how vengeance doesn't work - blood breeds blood." Craig said that Spielberg, creator of the Shoah Holocaust Foundation, was "incredibly aware" of his background "and that's why he wants to get it right".

However, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, which manages Mossad and its archives, has reportedly received no request for assistance. In addition, five retired Mossad agents, all of whom served in key intelligence posts at the time, have not been contacted.