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"Every civilization sees it fit to negotiate compromises with its own principles." -Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, Munich

Munich may well be the most amoral movie I've ever watched, and that's a compliment. Set against the sweeping, melancholy backdrop of the 1970s Cold War world, the movie tells the tale ("inspired by true events", I quote from the film) of an Israeli assassination squad out to avenge the nine of their countrymen who died before rolling television cameras at the 1972 Munich Olympics. History will tell you that the Israelis are renowned for this sort of thing - from the daring seizure of Adolf Eichmann in Argentina in 1968 (this episode is mentioned in the film) to the famous Entebbe Raid to the daring airstrike on Iraq's French-built nuclear reactor at Osirak in 1980, the state of Israel has never taken the norms and nuances of international law much into account when acting to protect its own interests. This in itself is morally ambiguous: responding to acts of terror with acts of terror. And it sets the tone for the rest of the film.

One of Steven Spielberg's strong suit's has always been incongruity, and he displays his talent fully in this movie. Golda Meir, looking every bit the gentle grandmother, invites Avner to tea, and chats amiably with him about his parents. The scene is of a kindly old matriach sitting down with a few friends for afternoon tea and crumpets and some friendly, harmless conversation - but she is the Prime Minister of Israel, two of her "friends" are generals in the Israeli army, one a Mossad agent and the last his boss, head of one of the most feared intelligence services in the world. And they are talking murder.

And so Avner and his team murder. One by one, the terrorists who planned the Munich attack die at their hands. But soon things spiral out of control - they find themselves killing replacements, killing other top leaders, killing and killing... until the hunters become the hunted. Then they kill those who kill their own.

The strain of this all tells on Avner, who slowly loses his mind. Earlier in the film, an anecdote is shared about a spy who took to sleeping in his closet because he couldn't even trust his bed anymore. A good laugh is had by all... and later in the film it turns (brilliantly, I might add) on Avner, who slices open his mattress in search of an imaginary bomb and then, beset with fear, goes to sleep in his closet.

Indeed, the theme that you can take the soldier out of the war but not the war out of the soldier surfaces yet again. Avner is haunted by the murders he commits, trapped between feeling them moral and justified because they were revenge (with flashbacks from Munich 1972 preying on his mind) and arguing that the terrorists should have been brought to a fair trial in a court of law instead, "like Eichmann". He cannot forgive himself for the deaths of his men, picked off one by one by the terrorists he hunts in a deadly cat-and-mouse game.

The entire movie smacks of amorality. From the Mossad chief, Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush does a wonderful job), who has few qualms about what he is doing to the shadowy organisation that helps Avner find his victims for a price and is headed by one only known as "Papa" to Avner and his men to the terrorists themselves, no one is an angel. Yet you cannot call them outright immoral either. They all fight, fought, for causes they believe in.

Those were interesting times they lived in - arguably far more dangerous than today. The Cold War arms race was at its height, and the great cities of the world were hotbeds of espionage. The KGB, CIA, MI6 and Mossad played deadly cloak-and-dagger games with each other. Double and even triple agents stalked the streets, and it was folly to completely trust someone. Meanwhile, the world tottered on the brink of anarchy as international terrorism reached new and deadly levels. The Red Army Faction carried out deadly attacks on US troops in Europe while the PLO made a trademark of hijacking passenger jets and bombing Israeli interests around the world. The Middle East was more combustible than it was today, with the Arab states openly hostile to Israel and still seeking to wipe it off the face of the Earth. The Six-Day War had been over just five years, and a new conflict would soon break out in 1973. All while the "merchants of death" - the great international arms traders - plied their deadly wares worldwide. It was not a time for morality. It was a time for violence, terror and vengeance. And the mood of the film portrays this superbly.

All in all, one of the better movies I have seen, if not exactly the best. It is violent, but the violence is used judiciously. The audience is not bludgeoned by gore, but is made to see and feel the horrifying effects of terror - and vengeance. Th melancholy, tension and cynicism of the Cold War years is amply reflected in Avner, his team ("I only care about Jewish blood", declares team member Steve) and the rest of the supporting cast. Incongruity is not just limited to the scene mentioned above - it is used wonderfully in several other scenes to portray the absurdity of daily life. Such as when Avner and his team confront Palestinian terrorists in their "safe house" in Athens, and eventually work out a tense co-existence; lying, of course, that they are Red Army Faction. Bunking with their worst enemies - that's how absurd life can get. Papa, head of an international organisation of informers, of merchants of death, owns a beautiful estate where children play happily in the sunshine. It is a perfectly domestic scene, but here is a man who can be regarded as little more than a murderer.

Appearances are really not to be taken seriously, and the desire for revenge must always be tempered. These are worthy lessons which Spielberg teaches us, and we will do well to learn them.