Horst_In_Translation Review of München 72 - Das Attentat

München 72 - Das Attentat (2012 TV Movie)

A good watch thanks to the importance of events and my personal liking

[6/10 · 14 May 2017]

"München 72 - Das Attentat" or "Munich 72" is a German movie from 2012, so this one has its 5th anniversary this year. It is possible not among the most known works by director Zahavi and writer Rauhaus, but this may also have to do with the fact that these 1.5 hours are a small screen release. Or with the fact that the subject has been elaborated on many many times already and maybe this one does not really offer anything new anymore. But this is not a valid criticism as far as I am concerned because I think that everybody involved with this project did a pretty solid job. Maybe you guessed from the title already that this movie is about the terrorist hostage situation from Munich during the Olympic Games back in 1972, certainly with its outcome one of the most tragic sports-related events of the 20th century. The cast here includes the likes of Heerwagen, Ferch, Aleardi, Grossmann, Sadler, Bock and others and I was a bit concerned early on because some of these actors also have many weak and forgettable films in their bodies of work, even if you know their names. But it's all good. The subject here carries the film nicely and honestly you never feel as if this is an actors' movie, but it is really all about the events and this is certainly the right approach. MVP for me was probably Stephan Grossmann, who did a pretty good job playing Hans Dietrich Genscher. Now it is probably correct to say that this is no "Munich", but then again this is not a problem. Munich is a great film thanks to Spielberg and the script and this is still a good movie. Besides, the subject here (if we exclude the very last scene) is really all about the actual events, not about the aftermath, which is also why it would maybe not be fair to compare these films. I myself enjoyed the watch here and yes there are some moments at times where they are going a bit over the top for drama and thrill purposes, but it's still really close to reality I guess. Even Heerwagen's character (with another name though) apparently existed, even if we don't know anything about her today anymore. If you are interested in the subject as I am, then give it a go. You will most likely not be disappointed if you don't expect anything groundbreaking.