# Munich, the 2005 Spielberg Movie. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/munich-the-2005-spielberg-movie/838113 "2019-08-03T15:04:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/munich-the-2005-spielberg-movie/838113/1 "2019-08-03T15:04:41Z")
I just watched “Munich” and saw it is “Based on true events”. Does anyone know the source material for the screenplay? Israeli assassins shooting it out with KGB agents in Athens, murdering a Dutch hitwoman in the Netherlands, the PLO’s most wanted agents living it up in Germany, French mercenaries playing all side against each other by selling information to all of the above… It just seems so improbable. I was 3 or 4 years old when the movie takes place (1972-1973) so I have no memory, but did the public hear about any of this, as apparently in Israel (according to the movie) this was open knowledge. Does anyone have a good place to read more about these events? ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/munich-the-2005-spielberg-movie/838113/2 "2019-08-03T15:14:07Z")
> [@Royal\_Nonesutch](#): > > Does anyone know the source material for the screenplay? Sure, it was based on the non-fiction book Vengeance (1984), written by Canadian writer George Jonas, usingas main source former Mossad operative Yuval Avid (Eric Bana in the movie, although the character uses another name.) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/munich-the-2005-spielberg-movie/838113/3 "2019-08-04T06:29:54Z")
[Operation Wrath of God.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Wrath_of_God) ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/munich-the-2005-spielberg-movie/838113/4 "2019-08-04T10:29:36Z")
I appreciate the info. The movie was OK, and although many of the “Human Drama” elements were pretty overwraught (the scene towards the end where the main protagonist was making love to his wife while in his mind flashing back to the bloody carnage he had visited on others earlier, complete with a pained, tortured look of agony on his face, was as hackey and cliche as anything I have ever seen in a major motion picture, truly Jr. High School drama class level stuff, acting Steven Seagal would have been ashamed of) the plot was gripping, all the more so because it was based on actual events. I have never been the biggest fan of “Spy” genre books or movies, but when they are done well, and especially when they are factually based, they can be both informative and entertaining. I was in Munich a few weeks ago, and saw a concert at the Olympic complex where the title events took place, and while I obviously knew a little background about the terrorism at the 1972 Olympic Games there, I wish I would have watched the movie before my visit, maybe it would have informed my time there and made it a little more meaningful. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/munich-the-2005-spielberg-movie/838113/5 "2019-08-04T15:02:25Z")
I’ve wondered about the payback killing of the female Dutch contract killer. The movie’s plot section in Wikipedia says this happens on “a houseboat in Hoorn, Netherlands”. This seems like something that could be verifiable, and might be a newsworthy event in a small town, yet I couldn’t find any corroboration while doing an internet search. I would not be surprised if the _femme fatale_ contract killer was fictional. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/munich-the-2005-spielberg-movie/838113/6 "2019-08-07T12:09:57Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > I’ve wondered about the payback killing of the female Dutch contract killer. The movie’s plot section in Wikipedia says this happens on “a houseboat in Hoorn, Netherlands”. This seems like something that could be verifiable, and might be a newsworthy event in a small town, yet I couldn’t find any corroboration while doing an internet search. I would not be surprised if the _femme fatale_ contract killer was fictional. The women is mentioned in my link above, and the location of Hoorn is collaborated in other places, such as [here](https://fas.org/irp/eprint/calahan.htm). So maybe they disposed of the body; maybe the Dutch authorities knew she was an assassin and wanted to keep the things quiet; or maybe it never happened. I’d bet on the first - as a mobile, flammable crime scene, a houseboat seems particularly easy to “clean”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/munich-the-2005-spielberg-movie/838113/7 "2019-08-07T16:17:34Z")
> [@Royal\_Nonesutch](#): > > I was in Munich a few weeks ago, and saw a concert at the Olympic complex where the title events took place, and while I obviously knew a little background about the terrorism at the 1972 Olympic Games there, I wish I would have watched the movie before my visit, maybe it would have informed my time there and made it a little more meaningful. I think the documentary “One Day in September” might give you a more comprehensive idea of what happened in Munich itself in 1972. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/munich-the-2005-spielberg-movie/838113/8 "2019-08-07T22:09:39Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The women is mentioned in my link above, and the location of Hoorn is collaborated in other places, such as [here](https://fas.org/irp/eprint/calahan.htm). So maybe they disposed of the body; maybe the Dutch authorities knew she was an assassin and wanted to keep the things quiet; or maybe it never happened. I’d bet on the first - as a mobile, flammable crime scene, a houseboat seems particularly easy to “clean”. In the linked article, the source cited for the assassination in Hoorn is George Jonas’ _Vengeance_ book, which is also the source for the _Munich_ movie. So there doesn’t appear to be any other source outside of the _Vengeance_ book to authenticate that this episode happened. For this reason, I remain skeptical about it and think it may be fictional, or heavily embellished, either by the book’s author, George Jonas, or its main source, Yuval Aviv, who is also the book’s main character. From the _Vengeance_ book’s [Wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vengeance_(Jonas_book)) (without citation): > [@](#): > > Although Jonas claimed to have verified Aviv’s story as much as possible, critics, including members of the Israeli Intelligence Community, have called into question story’s validity. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2019, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/munich-the-2005-spielberg-movie/838113/9 "2019-08-07T23:46:40Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > From the _Vengeance_ book’s Wikipedia page (without citation): There’s another issue besides the lack of citation for some in the intelligence community arguing it didn’t happen. We would have to assess whether the assertions are factual. It was a covert program where Mossad agents violated the laws of friendly countries. There’s a pretty strong motive to lie. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/munich-the-2005-spielberg-movie/838113/10 "2019-08-08T00:07:38Z")
I liked this movie but…can someone tell me what happened to the bomb/toy-maker?