21 Hours at Munich (1976) – Director: William A. Graham – 6/10 (good)
The movie succeeds in virtue of following the events in a fairly straightforward manner and owing to the satisfying performances given by William Holden and Franco Nero. Perhaps its biggest differentiating feature constitutes the emphasis put on delineating terrorists’ motives: the motion picture evidently sets out to portray the strife underlying the terrorist activities besides the immediate action involving the athletes. This factor is evidenced by multiple exchanges between Nero and the authorities which shed ample light upon his reasons for having taken the actions without derogating from the overall flow of the narrative; the central discord is outlined in a genuinely three-dimensional way, being contextualized within the larger poltical climate of the era. The film undertakes to depict the gruesome reality of the occurrence without taking any sides which might be its most compelling asset at the end of the day. Though Holden is hard to fault, he might be reckoned slightly miscast in that he is such a distinctly American persona both in his speech and general mannerisms that one simply cannot pass over the friction between his nationality and the character he is supposed to play, be that as it may, this is only a minor grievance and does not get in the way of the story too much.
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