'I knew it would stir controversy.' Spielberg
Photo: Reuters
Saving Munich
Steven Spielberg is deeply offended - hurt by the way in which ‘Munich’ was received in Israel, by the reviews and by the contempt. In a Yedioth Ahronoth exclusive interview, Spielberg responds, expresses his support for Kadima and his opposition to President Bush. Oh yeah, one more thing: He wants to bring Gila Almagor to Hollywood
Part one of two: Steven Spielberg is deeply insulted. He knew before he started he would be attacked in America – by fundamentalists, he calls it – but Israel is a different story.
In Israel? His second homeland? The country he once said in interview he was willing to die for? Him, the man who created "Schindler's List" and a massive Holocaust memorial project by encouraging survivors to talk on video?
That's the reason, he says, that he was willing to be interviewed by an Israeli newspaper. Prior to the release of Munich, he gave an interview to Time Magazine. Since then, he's spoken with Germany's Der Spiegel and had a short telephone conversation with American film critic Roger Ebert, and that's it.
Harsh Criticism
Yitzhak Benhorin
Mimi Weinberg lost her husband in the Munich massacre, but unlike other bereaved families, she's never gone public about the incident. Now, in an exclusive interview, she pulls no punches as Steven Spielberg's take on the tragedy is set to open in Israel
But he's agreed to speak to Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's leading daily, to make amends. To remind us that this is Steven Spielberg we're speaking about, an Israel sympathizer that would never think of doing anything to hurt it.
After all, he says Israel is a light unto the nations, an example of democracy in a region surrounded by enemies. In this sense, he says, the world and the United States need Israel more than ever. So why all the attacks?
"This interview," he says by phone from his Los Angeles office, "allows me to speak directly with the Israelis. I expected some criticism of Munich, because the movie is a hot button topic and touches on some very controversial issues.
"But I was shocked that someone in Israel might think that I would create anything – a book, television show, or a movie – that would contradict my deep belief in the State of Israel. I was surprised that the context of me as a Jew and as a filmmaker didn't carry much weight. No one took into consideration my being a very Jewish and pro-Israel person."
Spielberg knows us well. He is familiar with Israeli politics, he's visited several times, and he follows the issues facing Israel closely.
But being this familiar with the country, Spielberg should have known about the "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately" that prevails here, and that no one would consider his previous films or the Holocaust project. He should have known that people like former head of Mossad head Shabbtai Shavit would talk about Munich in terms that border on treason, as if Spielberg owes us anything besides a good movie.
But even Spielberg feels he does owe us something extra. And he thinks this is exactly what he did: Throughout the conversation, he talks about the Jewish right, almost the Jewish duty, to raise an issue and argue over it. This, he says, is the Judaism he was raised on.
"Munich is predicated on a belief in dialogue, something I learned from my parents and my rabbi. It is a Jewish thing. The "shema" prayer starts off with the word 'listen'. It is my right as a Jew – to love Israel and visit it, to understand and ask questions."
Does it bother you that if it wasn't because of who you are, the feedback wouldn't have been so overwhelming?
"Because I am who I am, I had a right to tackle this topic. If I hadn't backed this project, no studio would have approved it. Only someone like me, completely independent, could have raised funding for a movie like Munich. I knew that Schindler's List, and my past as a filmmaker and a Jew give me credibility. I thought people would give me a bit more credit, knowing how much I love Israel."
Do you feel hurt?
"Not really offended, more ashamed that people don't know me better. These are automatic pilot attacks. Some of them I can understand: you live there, attacked by suicide bombers, under constant threat. But to these people I say – relax, we're on the same side."
As he speaks, the first charge – the one he expected – becomes clear, and it comes not only from Israelis, but also from the American right-wing. You cannot miss it – Spielberg's movie is about Munich and about us, but perhaps more than that, the movie is about Bush's America, an America that in the name of the war on terrorism loses its moral inhibitions and its ability to question itself.
The film's final scene exemplifies this message - the credits roll with the backdrop of lower Manhattan – including, of course, the Twin Towers. Here, say the critics in the U.S. and in Israel, Spielberg infers that the cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians resulted in September 11. Willingly or not, he also joins those that tie Israel to this American tragedy.
Spielberg denies the link. "Anyone who concludes from the final frame that there is a connection between the struggle between Israelis and the Palestinians is either naïve or political, a person who sculpts the movie to fit a personal preconception of their own," he says.
"There is no connection between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and al-Qaeda. What I meant to say in the last frame is that now, unfortunately, it is time for America to face the hard choices Israel has been dealing with for years."
And he reiterates he does not mean to attack Israel.
"In some parts of the Jewish world, there is a profound sense of insecurity and a deep fear of being besieged. There is a feeling that Israel is always attacked, that it is subject to double standards, and that the enemy is looking for any weak point. I share this fear, but I also think that some people in the Jewish community feel that Israel is so weak that they react almost hysterically to anything they view as being critical."
When you say "Jewish community"' do you distinguish between the U.S. and Israel?
"I mean Jewish community in general. Most of the Jews in the U.S. have embraced Munich as a very important and objective work of conscience.
"I'm merely referring to the extreme right-wing Jewish community in this country and I also assume in Israel they have taken great exception to what the film in trying to say. These fundamentalists believe that whoever raises questions like the ones the movie raises is weakening Israel, that any discussion regarding Israeli policy is an attack on the sovereignty of Israel.
"These people have a worldview in which the default setting is defensive. They are willing to accept but one perspective, a reaffirmation of their beliefs.
"They watched Munich not the way the movie actually unfolds, but through their own beliefs. When the film didn't fit in, they attacked. Those who are most confident in themselves, here and in Israel, reacted differently.
I have been accused of moral equivalence between the terrorists and Israelis. That's just not true, and decent human beings who watch the movie, will think likewise. The moral point here is the price which (main character) Avner ends up paying and the deterioration of his character under the pressure of his actions.
"People misunderstand that as far as I am concerned Golda Meir had no choice but to order the vengeful operation – and I support these operations. Israel had to act.
"But anyone tasked with these missions ends up suffering. Mossad agents are not 007 men, and they do not have ice water in their veins. They are people that operate with valor and heroism, but a person that carries out these missions will necessarily be impacted."
In the past you had refused to do Munich three times, claiming it is too complex of a story.
"I knew it would stir controversy. I've shied away most of my life from controversy because it creates a lot of noise and the filmmaker behind the controversy has to be constantly on the defensive. I always want my movies to speak for themselves, but I knew that it would be one of those films that I would have to help out with interviews.
"Although I am not one for controversies, I want to deal with historic subject matter. I remember the Munich events well, I saw them on television and they left their mark. In the movie I tried to put it in perspective, to create a discussion that doesn't normally take place.
One of the things that affected me most about making this movie was the fact that in the Olympic Games since, every four years, no one mentions that murder of the Israeli athletes – especially not the International Olympic Committee. People prefer to forget.
"In a world where terror exists in such an immense force, what Israelis can teach the rest of the world is that terrorism is a series of choices between bad alternatives. You have to respond, but everything has a price."
