What does it mean to be justified?  Christians see this in terms of faith in God, and rightly so.  Unfortunately, there have been many over the centuries that have used that logic in the name of some of the worst atrocities imaginable.  It is still happening today.  There are some so-called followers of Jesus that use Scripture to support nationalistic, exclusionary ideologies.  When I am faced with bigotry, I am glad I am Catholic and belong to a Faith that, though it has had its problems, professes a loving God.  It is because of moments like these in history that I am drawn to films such as Munich: The Edge of War (2021).  I pray that what I am about to describe does not become a reality for us today.

The only reality for graduating Oxford student Lena (Liv Lisa Fries) at the beginning of Munich: The Edge of War is that she wants some more champaign.  It is 1932 and she is celebrating her matriculation with her boyfriend, Paul von Hartmann (Jannis Niewöhner), and their friend and classmate, Hugh Legat (George MacKay).  Once the bubbly is procured, she settles in with her companions as Paul launches into a defense of the “New Germany.”  In case this does not ring a historical bell for you, he is referring to the rise of Adolf Hitler (Ulrich Matthes).  Hugh and Lena are skeptical, but Paul invites Hugh to come to Germany one day to see for themselves.  We then move ahead six years later and London is seemingly preparing for war.  Hugh, now working for the Foreign Office, is on his way to have lunch with his wife, Pamela Legat (Jessica Brown Findlay).  Given the hubbub, Hugh is evidently preoccupied, and he is soon called away to the office to deal with the rising threat of a German invasion of Czechoslovakia.  Also concerned with this is Paul.  Like Hugh, Paul works for the government, though in his own country.  He and a few others see Hitler for the monster he is and are seeking a way of bringing down their leader before things get worse.  Though they are opposed to the German army’s imminent move, they see it as a potential opportunity to arrest the Führer.  If they do not, they believe it will lead to more problems.  Meanwhile, Great Brittain’s prime minister, Lord Neville Chamberlain (Jeremy Irons), is trying to prevent those further problems in his own way.  As he tells his wife, Anne Chamberlain (Abigail Cruttenden), he would give his life if it meant preventing another horror like World War I.  Because he thinks Hitler is almost unreachable, Lord Chamberlain turns to the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini (Domenico Fortunato), to help bring the German leader to the negotiating table.  As part of his duties, Hugh is asked to stay on the line with the British ambassador to Germany to see if these overtures have been successful.  They are confirmed just as Lord Chamberlain is commencing a speech in parliament, but Hugh is able to rush the news over that the prime minister had been waiting to hear.  When word of a planned conference in Munich between France, Germany, Great Britain, and Italy is announced Paul and his cabal switch tactics.  Because of his language skills, Paul is included in German government’s delegation to Munich.  He also speaks a number of different languages than English and German, and becomes the official interpreter of foreign newspapers for Hitler.  Before coming on the trip, he made sure that Hugh is made part of Lord Chamberlain’s entourage.  This is because Paul’s lover, Helen Winter (Sandra Hüller), has obtained a document that lays out Hitler’s plan to invade the whole of Europe and bring it into the German Reich.  Paul hopes that his old friendship with Hugh will get him an audience with Lord Chamberlain.  The issue is that Hugh and Paul have not spoken in six years.  When Hugh did visit Germany, he found Paul to be a rabid Nazi and it caused the two friends to part bitterly.  Still, their connection is why Hugh is allowed to go, even if he is nervous about engaging in espionage.  The two eventually encounter each other inside the building in which the conference is taking place, but Paul leads them to a bar they knew from six years ago.  Paul makes his request to have an audience with Lord Chamberlain to hand over the document, but Hugh says it is mad.  In desperation, Paul gives it to Hugh, hoping the latter will at least show it to the prime minister.  Hugh’s initial attempt fails, but Paul comes to the hotel after the conference to insist on the matter.  Despite the irregularity of the discussion, Lord Chamberlain listens but dismisses Paul’s request that the British not sign the agreement to hand over the agreed upon portion of Czechoslovakia known as the Sudetenland.  Lord Chamberlain soon asks the two Oxford men to leave, and later Paul takes Hugh to see Lena.  Because she is Jewish, she had been rounded up and put into a camp where she had been pushed out of a window.  Though still living, she is in a vegetative state.  This is what turned Paul against the Nazis, and with it comes a call to action.  Though Hugh tries to talk him out of it, Paul vows to kill Hitler during their next newspaper briefing.  Upon returning to his hotel, Hugh finds a German officer going through his things.  After a brief scuffle, he looks for the document but it is missing.  Panicked, he talks his way into being present for Lord Chamberlain’s last face-to-face with Hitler.  There, he gives Paul a note saying that the documents are gone.  This information helps prevent Paul from doing anything rash, though he is ashamed of his cowardice later with Helen.  As for Hugh, he is relieved when one of the typists, Joan Menzies (Anjli Mohindra), hands him the document, admitting that part of her job had been to look after him.  With that, he returns home to Pamela, saying that war will break out soon and that he is going to join the Royal Air Force (RAF).

Looking at Munich: The Edge of War from a twenty-first century perspective, it might seem evident that World War II would happen.  In 1938, despite the aforementioned document and a great deal of circumstantial evidence to the contrary, there was still hope that conflict could be avoided.  Hope is the theme of the film, and it is one that provides a great deal of fodder for a Catholic film reviewer.  There is a lot said in the film on the subject, in a negative and positive light.  Paul is the more pessimistic, saying that hope is waiting for someone else to do something.  While this is an evident criticism, there is some truth in the statement when viewed through the lens of Faith.  After all, Pslam 33:20-22 says, “Our soul waits for the Lord, He is our help and our shield.  For in Him our hearts rejoice; in His holy name we trust.  May Your mercy, Lord, be upon us; as we put our hope in You.”  It is good to take action when it is warranted, but as this Scripture also says, sometimes what we need is patience with God to act in our lives.  Discernment is key, and without it we can be blinded to potential dangers, as Paul is with Hitler in 1932.  Yet, even in those darkest moments, hope prevails.  A good Scripture for this is Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace^* with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access [by faith] to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.”  We see echoes of this in Hugh’s greeting of Pamela at the end.  He recognizes that there will be difficulty ahead, but that hope will prevail.

I hope you can prevail to see Munich: The Edge of War.  It may be a historical drama, the drama coming from the fact that the main characters are fictional.  Yet, it shows how to be courageous in perilous times.  I hope (there is that word again) that we will not need it, but movies like this can be inspirational.