TODAY'S NUGGET: Munich (2005) - Cyclical Vengeance; I'm OK with a Long Script

[Quick Summary: Avner leads a team of assassins to wage vengeance on the team that killed the 1972 Israeli Olympians.]

I don't particularly like reading vengeance scripts, as they're often too long, i.e., heavy, IMPORTANT, and over-written.  (Yes, that's sarcasm.)

So I was surprised to find that this script actually needs the length (163 pgs.)

I think the writers and Spielberg and needed the space to do what they were trying to do here: Show the cyclical pattern of vengeance and it's fruitlessness.

One contributing factor to the cycle is the money.  It is so large that no one questions where it came from, and it will take great character to walk away from it.

We are reminded of this in the scene below:
- Avner goes to meet Papa, the head info broker who's made a fortune selling intel.
- Papa has requested this first in-person meeting after Avner's team messed up.
- This scene gives the audiences a little normalcy and a chance to breathe. However, the threat is never too far behind: We are similar; do not cross me.

INT. INSIDE THE FARMHOUSE - DAY

...He hands Avner a big metal bowl filled with kidneys. He points to the sink. 

PAPA (CONT'D): There.

Avner brings the bowl to the sink, turns on the tap. Papa hurries over, nudges Avner out of the way, turns off the tap. He gestures with the large knife he's holding.

PAPA (CONT'D): No! Don't wash! It will taste like boiled sponge.

AVNER: Then why put them in the sink?

PAPA: If the juices spurt out, it's a big mess, the whole kitchen smells like piss. Peel off the fat.

He dexterously peels off a kidney's thin membrane of fat.

PAPA (CONT'D): Let me see your hands.

Avner shows Papa his hands.

PAPA: Too big for a good cook! That was my problem too.

Papa holds his right hand up, flat against Avner's.

PAPA (CONT'D): I'd have been a master but I have thick stupid butcher's hands, like yours. We are tragic men. Butcher's hands, gentle souls.

He tousles Avner's hair, gently, affectionately slaps his face.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I was tired out reading this script. However, I do think it was as short as they could get it. Cycles do need space and time.

Munich (2005)(undated)
by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth
Based on the book, "Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team," by George Jonas