MUNICH

Year: 2005
USA: Universal Studios
UK: UIP (UK)
Cast: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciaran Hinds, Mathieu Kassovitz, Hanns Zischler, Ayelet Zurer, Geoffrey Rush, Gila Almagor, Michael Lonsdale, Mathieu Amalric, Moritz Bleibtreu, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, Meret Becker, Marie-Josee Croze, Yvan Attal, Ami Weinberg, Lynn Cohen, Amos Lavie, Moshe Ivgy, Michael Warshaviak, Ohad Shachar, Rafael Tabor, Sharon Cohen Alexander, Schmuel Calderon, Oded Teomi, Alon Abutul, Makram Khoury, Igal Naor, Hiam Abbass, Mouna Soualmen, Mostefa Djadjam, Assi Cohen, Lisa Werlinder, Djemal Barek, Derar Suleiman, Ziad Adwan, Bijan Daneshmand, Rim Turki, Jonathan Rozen, Charley H Gilleran, Jonathan Uziel, Guy Zu-Aretz, Yossi Sagie, Liron Levo, Ohad Knoller, Lyes Salem, Carim Messalti, Hichem Yacoubi, Omar Mostafa, Charley H Gilleran, Mahmoud Zemouri, Souad Amidou, Amrou Alkadhi, Omar Metwally, Nasser Memarzia, Abdelhafid Metalsi, Karim Qayouh, Mihalis Giannatos, Faruk Pruti, Rad Lazar, Laurence Fevrier, Habir Yahya, Mehdi Nebbou, Hicham Nazzal, Lemir Guerfa, Hisham Silman, Brian Goodman, Richard Brake, Robert John Burke, Yehuda Levi, Danny Zahavi, Itay Barnea, Elyse Klaits, Nabil Yajjou, Karim Saleh, Merik Tadros, Mousa Kraish, Karim Saidi, Mohammed Khouas, David Ali Hamade, Ben Youcef, Sami Samir, Guri Weinberg, Sam Feuer, Sabi Dorr, Wojciech Machnicki, David Feldman, Ori Pfeffer, Shmuel Edleman, Joseph Sokolsky, Lior Perel, Ossie Beck, Guy Amir, Haguy Wigdor, Roei Avigdori, Kevin Collins, Daniel Bess, Baya Belal, Ula Tabari, Saida Bekkouche, Fettouma Bouamari, Alexander Beyer, Amos Shoub, Geoffrey Dowell, Rana Werbin, Jane Garda, Felicite Du Jeu, Gil Soriano, Mordechai Ben Shachar, Amina Al-Aidroos, Leda Mansour, Sasha Spielberg, Renana Raz, Hagit Dasberg-Shamul, Patrick Kennedy, Stephane Freiss, Arturo Arribas, Yaron Josef Motolla, Jalil Naciri, Martin Ontrop, Joram Voelklein, Michael Schenk, Andreas Lust, Tom Wlaschiha
Director: Steven Spielberg
Country: USA
USA & UK: 163 mins
USA Rated: R for strong graphic violence, some sexual content, nudity and language
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong violence and strong language
USA Release Date: 6 January 2006
USA Release Date: 23 December 2005 (Limited Release)
UK: Release Date: 27 January 2006


UK Distributor

Synopsis

In September of 1972 an unprecedented terrorist attack unfolded live before 900 million television viewers across the globe and ushered in a brave new world of unpredictable violence.

It was the second week of the Summer Olympics, and in Munich, West Germany, the games that had been dubbed "The Olympics of Peace and Joy" were off to a rousing start with swimmer Mark Spitz and gymnast Olga Korbut wowing the crowds. Suddenly, without warning, an extremist Palestinian group known as Black September invaded the Olympic Village, killing two members of the Israeli Olympic team and capturing nine as hostages. The tense stand-off and tragic massacre that ensued played out with stunning immediacy on television before an international populace and ended 21 hours later when anchorman Jim McKay spoke the haunting words, "They're all gone."

While the Munich terror was seen and felt around the world, the intensely secret aftermath of the event has remained largely unknown. Now, from director Steven Spielberg comes MUNICH, a gripping thriller based on the events of Munich 1972 and the highly charged mission of retribution that followed—by the covert hit squad known to Israeli intelligence as "Operation Wrath of God," one of the boldest and most aggressive assassination plots in modern history. In taut, vivid and human detail, the film takes audiences into a hidden moment in history that resonates with many of the same emotions in our lives today.

At the center of the story is the young Israeli patriot and intelligence officer Avner (Eric Bana). Still mourning the Munich massacre and infuriated by its savagery, Avner is approached by a Mossad officer named Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush) who presents him with an unprecedented mission in Israeli history. He asks Avner to leave behind his pregnant wife, relinquish his identity and go completely underground on a mission to hunt down and kill the 11 men accused by Israeli intelligence of masterminding the murders at Munich.

Despite his youth and inexperience, Avner soon becomes the leader of a team of four very diverse yet highly skilled recruits: the brash, tough, South African-born getaway driver, Steve (Daniel Craig); the German Jew Hans (Hanns Zischler), who has a flair for forging documents; the Belgian toymaker-turned-explosives-expert, Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz); and the quiet, methodical Carl (Ciaran Hinds), whose job is to "clean up" after the others.

From Geneva to Frankfurt, Rome, Paris, Cyprus, London and Beirut, Avner and his team circle the globe under a cloak of extreme secrecy, tracking down each man on a closely guarded list of targets and carrying out intricately plotted assassinations, one by one. Working outside the rubric of international law, adrift without home or family, their only connection to humanity becomes one another. But even that starts to fray as the four men begin to argue among themselves about the unsettling questions that just won't go away: "Who exactly are we killing? Can it be justified? Will it stop the terror?"

Torn between their desire for justice and their own growing doubts, the mission begins to tear at the souls of Avner and his team, and it becomes increasingly clear that the longer they remain on the hunt, the more they are in danger of becoming the hunted.

MUNICH is directed by Steven Spielberg, from a screenplay by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Tony Kushner (ANGELS IN AMERICA), who makes his feature film debut as a screenwriter, and Eric Roth (FORREST GUMP, THE INSIDER), based on the book Vengeance by George Jonas. The producers are Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg, Barry Mendel and Colin Wilson.