Olympic orphan depicts dad in Spielberg's 'Munich'


Homepage Full Production Notes Critics Spielberg is no friend of Israel You never want to be labeled a fan of Israel in today’s Hollywood. Munich widow blasts Spielberg Mimi Weinberg: With Jews like Spielberg we don't need enemies. Spielberg film 'good for Israel' Gila Almagor says thriller about Israeli assassinations of Munich 1972 massacre perpetrators will improve country's image. Spielberg Speaks: Israel entitled to strong response Spielberg tells Time Magazine ahead of release of upcoming movie about Munich Olympic massacre. Interviews Eric Bana talks Audiences will be challenged by the complex moral issues that it raises. Daniel Craig talks "We're all kind of directly responsible for you know, most of the pain that goes on in this world." Reviews Critics agree One thing critics agree on about Steven Spielberg's Munich: it will give audiences something more than popcorn to chew on. Best film of 2005 A film of uncommon depth, intelligence, and sensitivity, Munich defies easy labeling. Variety Review As Steven Spielberg ponders the pointlessness of tit-for-tat retaliation between Israelis and Palestinians... Hollywood Reporter Steven Spielberg successfully enters Costa-Gavras territory with "Munich". Olympic orphan depicts dad in Spielberg's 'Munich' For aspiring Israeli actor Guri Weinberg, the big break in Hollywood was mixed with heartbreak.	Olympic orphan depicts dad in Spielberg's 'Munich' For aspiring Israeli actor Guri Weinberg, the big break in Hollywood was mixed with heartbreak. The 33-year-old appears in Steven Spielberg's new thriller "Munich" as his own father, Moshe Weinberg, a weightlifter who was the first of 11 athletes killed in a Palestinian guerrilla raid against Israel's delegation to the 1972 Olympic Games. Many Israelis, including Weinberg's widow, have taken issue with the film's portrayal of the assassination campaign launched by the Jewish state against suspected masterminds of the Munich attack, accusing Spielberg of equating the two sides. But Guri Weinberg on Tuesday credited his brief, bloody turn on screen -- shot while trying to fend off the hostage-takers -- as an opportunity to connect with the father he never knew. "All my life, I heard stories about dad, but it was just words. In acting it out, everything suddenly became real," he said in an interview with the Israeli Web site YNetNews. "For many years I was angry with him, thinking to myself that had he not put up a struggle, maybe I would still have a dad," Weinberg said. "When we made the film, I understood for the first time that he had to do what he did, and that he didn't have any chance of getting out of there alive." Weinberg recounted how the actor playing the Palestinian gunman who "killed" him burst out crying and hugged him as soon as Spielberg finished filming the scene. "The Arab actors were very nice. They told me that they hated what happened at Munich, and they wanted me to know it," he said. Weinberg moved to Los Angeles at age 14 to become an actor, a career that he said was much boosted by "Munich." His mother was far less positive about Spielberg's film, which opened in the United States last month and reaches much of Europe this week. It will open in Israel on January 26. "I didn't want people to see the film, despite the fact that my son acts in it," Mimi Weinberg told YNetNews. "This film does not distinguish between those who murder peaceful civilians in their sleep and those who killed the murderers," she said. "With Jews like Spielberg and (screenwriter Tony) Kushner, who needs enemies?" Spielberg has denied seeking to criticize Israel's security tactics, calling the film his "prayer for peace." The widows of two other slain Olympians endorsed "Munich" after the director arranged for them to attend a special preview in Tel Aviv. - Reuters