We all know how that went.

Hence the fictional drama simultaneously occurring between two friends: the aforementioned Hugh Legat and his German buddy from Oxford days, Paul von Hartman (Jannis Niewöhner). The pair fell out after school due to Paul’s infatuation with the then-rising Nazi Party and promises of Germany’s glory. But six years later, Paul is disillusioned and part of a secret resistance within the German government working against Hitler. Also due to some rather convenient plotting, he’s come into possession of a document that proves Hitler’s intent to acquire more “living space” for Germans through a war of conquest across Europe. Thus Paul arranges to share that document with Hugh and Chamberlain at the Munich Conference in a last ditch hope to convince Chamberlain to aid a German military coup in Berlin.

Of course if either Hugh or Paul are caught conspiring in a German city filled with spies and prying Nazi eyes, both could be executed, one as a spy and the other as a traitor.

Munich: The Edge of War is directed by Christian Schwochow, who’s worked extensively in television, including on the series The Crown. This makes sense as many of the compositions and the overall mise en scène consists of shaky handheld close-ups with shallow depths of field. The handheld is intended to make quiet rendezvouses at biergartens and dark German streets appear more clandestine and dangerous, but they perhaps speak more to the typically lower funded efforts of many Netflix dramas greenlit by a streaming service eager for content.

This particularly hurts the way some pivotal plot points occur, such as when Paul and Hugh are filmed as having a shouting match in the lobby of a German hotel where the British delegation is staying—and which would’ve been crawling with Nazi eyes, who couldn’t have spotted such forced melodrama any easier than if the pair had been wearing matching neon onesies. In that sense, the most theatrical flourishes fall flat whenever the film is attempting to be a full-title thriller.

Nevertheless, there is a gnawing and inescapable tension caked throughout the film that becomes almost unbearable as the screws tighten and Chamberlain places Europe’s destiny firmly in the lion’s mouth. This is partially due to Irons’ expertly judged performance as the British PM. Still a captivating screen presence when he wants to be (or when he’s given solid enough material), Irons inhabits the weakness of Chamberlain, yes, but also cultivates a seeming awareness of his doomed folly. He knows his efforts will fail but he will pursue the charade in any event in the hopes of peace. Is that accurate to the man? I don’t really know, but it makes for good, despairing drama.

Source: Den of Geek

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