Composer John Williams divorced himself from the 'Harry Potter' franchise this year, letting Patrick Doyle have the fun while he got serious.
Williams again works with longtime collaborator Steven Spielberg on one of 2005’s most sterling efforts, 'Munich.' The suspenseful drama examines the potential aftermath of the 1972 Munich massacre in Olympic Village, when Prime Minister Golda Meir ordered a secret Israeli squad to hunt down and murder the Palestinians thought to have planned the attack, as well as the cycle vengeance and violence exacts on those who enact it.
Eric Bana stars as Avner, a Mossad agent recruited by Meir to lead the team. He meets up with fellow agents Carl (Ciaran Hinds), Steve (Daniel Craig), Robert (Mathieu Kassvoits), and Hans (Hanns Zischler) under the auspices of Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush), and the men begin the solemn task of systematically locating and offing the terrorist masterminds.
Eventually the work begins to take its toll, particularly on Avner, as the murders and their collateral damage escalate. He becomes increasingly paranoid, and questions the veracity of their targets.
Williams does an astonishing job of channeling the anxiety of Spielberg’s characters, evoking their inner demons with jarring, discordant rhythms and solo work by violinist Itzhak Perlman (who also again worked Williams in another 2005 film, 'Memoirs of a Geisha'), Steve Erdody on cello, Gloria Cheng on piano, John Ellis on oboe, Pedro Eustache on woodwind, and Adam del Monte on guitar, with Lisbeth Scott providing vocal work.
Williams uses multiple themes when recreating parts of the 1972 attacks, including the woeful 'Avner and Daphna,' 'Munich, 1972,' and 'Remembering Munich,' featuring Ellis and Scott, and the deeper, more resonant 'The Attack on the Olympic Village' and 'The Tarmac at Munich,' which utilize string work.
Avner’s theme reoccurs in 'Bearing the Burden,' 'Bonding,' 'Discovering Hans,' and 'Prayer for Peace,' in addition to the end credits. As always, Williams has created a pitch-perfect score for 'Munich' -- one that is introspective without being distracting, and lasts with listeners upon multiple plays, as does the movie.
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