Hello Movie maniacs
There have been too many movies set in the time of second World war. To be honest Hitler has given more content to the Hollywood movie makers compared to any other historical event. There is a certain romanticism associated with events of second World war strictly in terms of cinematic vision. The whole European theatre has attracted the attention of filmmakers all over the world because of which we get to see a movie set in that timeline almost on a yearly basis. The latest addition to this ever-growing list of World War 2 related movies is Munich-The edge of war.
Source Material (Munich-The Novel)
Munich the edge of war is based on a book written by Richard Harris. It is a fictionalized version of real-life events preceding the beginning of the second World war. Although the Munich agreement aspect of the movie is real, this movie adds a layer to this historical event in form of story of two college mates.
The Plot
The movie begins where we are introduced to the two protagonists, who are both students of Oxford. After an initial look at their friendship, we are taken ahead in time where the two friends are working for their respective country. Germany is about to invade Czechoslovakia and the British prime minister Neville Chamberlain is trying hard to prevent a war from breaking out. One of the two friends Hugh Legat is working as British prime minister’s secretary, while the other Paul von Hartmann is working as a translator in Reichstag and they secretly plotting with Wehrmacht to overthrow Hitler. The whole movie revolves around the bureaucratic and political efforts being made to prevent a war from breaking out.
The problem
The problem with this movie is that we are already aware of what happens and that eventually the World War 2 breaks out. So, the stakes are not really high in this movie which makes it pointless. The writers have tried to throw in a little bit of spy and the resistance stuff, but it comes across as flat. The story of two friends working together desperately to ensure that Hitler does not succeed in his plans is not able to bind the interest of the audience. At the end, the movie simply becomes a vessel to present Neville chamberlain in a different light altogether.
Performances
On the acting front both George Mackay and Jannis Niewöhner have given a decent performance, but the show stealer in the limited opportunities he gets, due to the limitations of the script, is undoubtedly Jeremy Irons as the tragic Mr Chamberlain. The rest of the actors have all done a fair job, but I found the casting of Indian origin actress Anjli Mohindra as a Britisher in 1938, an historically inaccurate depiction of the world during those times.
The final cut
Munich the edge of war is a slow movie to be watched on a lazy afternoon provided you do not have anything else to see. Honestly, I would prefer reading the accurate version of history from Wikipedia a much better usage of time than watching this movie.
