What makes a great historical drama? I think it’s when you can watch a story and learn something new. And that’s what I did when I watched Munich: The Edge of War. Of course, as a history major in college, I knew the story about the peace deal that British prime minister Neville Chamberlain tried to make with Adolf Hitler shortly before World War II started. What I had forgotten were his reasons why and how in the end it was about buying time, so that England could prepare for the war they knew was eventually coming because even then, world leaders knew that Hitler couldn’t be trusted. The new movie that comes to Netflix details that story and all the behind-the-scenes espionage that allowed world leaders to find out Hitler’s true plan. Some historical dramas fall flat because sometimes documentaries tell a better story, but I didn’t feel that way when I came to this film. I was intrigued all the way up to the very end. The story is about the undersecretaries in England and in Germany who did all the hard work to broker the peace deal between England and Germany in 1938. But the film is also an old-school Cold War espionage story with the undersecretaries passing on classified information, especially on the German side to get the truth out about what Hitler was really planning. The film stars George McKay and Jeremy Irons. Jeremy Irons is brilliant as Neville Chamberlain and gives him a much more sympathetic story than what history tends to remember about a man who appeased the Germans. The film allows us to see a prime minister who knew what was really going on and basically laid out his own bluff to buy England time to prepare for war. Jeremy Irons is great in anything he does and I feel like he was perfect as Neville Chamberlain. But it’s really George McKay, who plays an undersecretary by the name of Hugh Legat that shines as well as Jannis Niewohner who plays the German undersecretary Paul Von Hartmann. He is really the unsung hero of this story betraying his government to get out classified information about Germany’s true intentions at the risk of his own life.
What I loved most about this film is I was on the edge of my seat all the way until the very end to see if this classified information would get to the British. Yes, we know the history. We know what happened with England at the beginning of World War II and how ill-prepared the country was as a country, even to the point that Neville Chamberlain plays the perfect scapegoat to why England favored appeasement over going to war with Germany. But really, the heart of this story is the spy thriller aspect of the film that will keep an audience watching until the very end. Because history doesn’t tell us every little detail on what happened and it’s this kind of film that will give us more of an insight to what happened behind the scenes at the very beginning of World War II. It’s not a perfect film. One would expect to see more action if the film has an espionage feel to it and as much as I love George McKay as an actor, he was great in 1917, his character who seems very unsure of himself is annoying at times. He doesn’t appear to have any kind of a backbone and is an easy pushover, but that’s also how the character is supposed to be played. George McKay does a great job at this. Jannis Niewohner has the more stand-out performance, but I do feel at times he overacts in his scenes. It’s true that these are minor critiques, but overall, the film is entertaining and will keep you watching until the end. The other critique I have is that some of the characters are underused. Jessica Brown Findlay is a brilliant actress and audiences will know her from Downton Abbey. I’m glad that she’s in this film, but has very little to do of playing George McKay’s wife. The purpose of having a brilliant actress in a film is not just have one or two scenes with them, but to fully use their talents because if you’re only going to get one or two scenes with an actress then you use a virtual unknown in the role. Never underutilize your talent in a film. That will always be a huge mistake.
Overall “Munich: The Edge of War” is a good film for Netflix. Netflix has a lot of entertaining films that may never get the right audience if it were in the theater, but I feel like this is a great one for the streaming service that, although, may not be a perfect film for the theater, it’s one that everybody should check out. It has a great historical setting and makes for a great period piece while keeping audiences entertained with its spy thriller aspect. The performances are good, especially that of Jeremy Irons, who plays Neville Chamberlain. And the film does a great job to give us a different perspective of History that we may not have gotten from the history books about this particular time at the beginning of World War II. So, if you’re looking for a good film on Netflix one afternoon, then I highly recommend it.
