Munich: The Edge of War movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Munich: The Edge of War

This dramatic WWI movie was released in select theaters on December 31, 2021, and will be available globally on Netflix on January 21, 2022.

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 2 hours 9 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

Adapted from Robert Harris’ novel Munich: A novel, MUNICH – THE EDGE OF WAR sees two young men embroiled in one of the most crucial moments in 20th Century history. In the autumn of 1938, civil servant Hugh Legat accompanies British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to Munich in a desperate bid to broker peace with German leader Adolf Hitler. Once there, Legat encounters his old friend Paul von Hartmann, a German diplomat who has in his possession a document signaling Hitler’s true intent: a war of conquest across Europe. Amid frantic negotiations at the Munich Conference, Hugh and Paul conspire to prevent a terrifying conflict.

On a personal note, I’ve always been fascinated with what was happening in Germany during WWI and WWII because my grandmother and her parents were German. They were fortunate enough to get out of the country and emigrate to the United States when she was only 11 years old, right before WWII. She never talked about Germany. I was too young before she died to even ask her about her homeland. My father also never spoke of Germany and our heritage either. I’ve often wondered how much Germans knew about what was going on during WWII and I love movies that offer some insights. A film that sheds a little bit of light on that and one I recommend is The Book Thief.

THINGS I LIKED:

The movie is a part spy thriller, period drama, and character study.
I instantly became a fan of George MacKay when I first saw him in the movie 1917. I loved that film! I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he had been in MANY films before that! His performance carries this movie and, in almost every instance with mouth agape, he conveys a feeling of fear and complete overwhelm.
I adore Academy Award-winner Jeremy Irons and thought he had a great physical resemblance to Neville Chamberlain. Neville Chamberlain has been viewed by some historians as a naive fool, believing in Hitler’s deceptive words; however, this film offers another perspective of the Prime Minister, suggesting that he signed the 1938 Munich agreement in order to give England more time to build up forces for the war that was sure to come. I don’t know if that’s actually true, but I appreciated the idea and hope it’s true.
I also thought that Jannis Niewohner was great as Paul von Hartman. I had never seen him in anything before. In 2015, he was named as one of Europe’s “Shooting Stars” by the European Film Promotion. Good call.
The rest of the talented cast includes August Diehl, Jessica Brown Findlay, and Sandra Huller.
While many of the events portrayed in the movie are true, some of the characters are fictional. It’s fascinating to watch the story unfold, especially as we know what comes next in history. A perfect follow-up to this movie is Darkest Hour. It’s excellent and won an Academy Award for Gary Oldman for his performance, as well as Oscars for other achievements from the crew.
Very stylish filmmaking. There were so many gorgeous frames that could have been turned into iconic pictures. I loved the shots where George MacKay is walking by a series of Nazi flags that flag in his face and threaten to wrap around his body.
You can’t cut the tension with a knife. It’s that good.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

The film starts off slow and drags in the beginning, but by Act II, you’re riveted to your seat.
The movie feels long. It could have been an intriguing limited series.
There is a side story about a struggling marriage that founders. The wife, portrayed by the lovely Jessica Brown Findlay never appears supportive and we don’t know enough about her to care about her or the marriage other than we want the husband to be happy and successful.
I was surprised by the choice of actor to play Hitler because I didn’t think he looked at all like the WWII monster. Don’t get me wrong though because he did a great job and illustrated very well that the Nazi leader was extremely unhinged and dangerous.