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Review: Munich

Spielberg's Munich isn't as good as some claim, but it is still a very good film. Rather than read the film in terms of its "deep message" I want to refer to its surface pleasures, in this instance, its visual texture, which, in terms of mise-en-scene, film stock, and lighting, evokes classic early 70s police procedural dramas, like Fred Zinneman's late masterpiece, The Day Of The Jackal.

Spielberg would have many reasons for wanting to pay homage to this director, not least because he made the liberal classic High Noon, which, in terms of burying political comment beneath a Hollywood-genre form, prefigures much of Spielberg's own recent filmography.

The Jackal - arguably the greatest assassination thriller ever made (a riveting sub-genre including The Manchurian Candidate, The Dead Zone, and In The Line of Fire) - features the wonderful sad-faced French actor Michael Lonsdale (also known for being Drax in Bond) as the ever-determined flic Lebel (pictured here). In Munich, he returns, in a bizarre cameo as a patriarch who sells secrets to all non-governmental villains.

One note, Spielberg has filmed mostly on location in Budapest, which is noticeable, especially when Bp. tries to double as London. At first I found this poor form, but after awhile, the shabby subterfuge created a uni-Euro look that captures the right 70s aesthetic.

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