“Not in any way to excuse it, but to try and comprehend it.”
Por qué es buena
It shuts every door into forgiveness before it allows understanding.
Registro
Formal
Úsala tú
Not in any way to cover for her, but to learn what blocked the train.
00:00 / 02:43
00:00 / 02:43
Munich's Prayer for Peace, Explained
Spielberg · 2017
Capítulo 10 de 10 · 2'43"
The surface argument is how to make a film that understands why the men who murdered the athletes did it, "Not in any way to excuse it, but to try and comprehend it." Underneath, the talk asks whether that is moral equivalence, whether each man killed was replaced by worse, and why peace has to be the hard way.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:02–1:00
Understanding the Killers Without Excuse
59s - 1:01–1:29
Replaced by Worse, Nails Grow Back
29s - 1:58–2:42
❝ Monólogo · 7 frases Peace the Hard Way, Not an Easy Road
43s
Munich's Prayer for Peace, explained
What happens
Several people talk through Munich. One asks how a film allows understanding why the men who murdered the athletes did it, "Not in any way to excuse it, but to try and comprehend it." Another treats the charge of moral equivalence as the brave part, because the movie looks for humanity on both sides. The ending calls it a prayer for peace, but peace the hard way.
What's really going on
The argument is not whether the murders were wrong. The first answer already shuts that door: "Not in any way to excuse it, but to try and comprehend it." A quoted voice says you kill Jews and the world thinks you're animals, and the next line says they will ask about the conditions in our cages. That is the moral equivalence people complained about, and one speaker calls it the bravest thing here, because the movie looks for humanity on both sides. "Every man we killed has been replaced by worse" sits beside "Why cut my fingernails? They'll grow back." "You killed them for the sake of a country you now choose to abandon." The ending is not a celebration of the enemy's death. Towers appear in the quiet last frame, and the speech says there is "no rug big enough to sweep these problems under." Peace, in the last lines, is "peace the hard way": "peace by discovering within yourself your moral high ground."
Key lines & what they mean
- “Not in any way to excuse it, but to try and comprehend it.”
- Understanding why the athletes' killers acted is allowed only after every excuse has been ruled out.
- “Every man we killed has been replaced by worse!”
- A verdict on the killings: each dead man was followed by someone more dangerous, so the deaths bought nothing.
- “Why cut my fingernails? They'll grow back.”
- Fingernails are the comparison: cut them and they return, just as removing those men does not stop them coming back.
- “You killed them for the sake of a country you now choose to abandon.”
- A charge, not a dictionary gloss: you said the killing was for that country, and now you choose to leave it.
- “And you can't-- there's no rug big enough to sweep these problems under.”
- These problems cannot be hidden. No rug is large enough to push them out of sight, so they stay until something happens.
- “And so, "Munich" is a prayer for peace, but peace the hard way.”
- Munich is framed as a prayer for peace that refuses the easy version. The hard way is a moral high ground you find in yourself, not a long road.
Theme
- Philosophy — The talk splits understanding from excuse, then calls peace a moral high ground you find in yourself.
- Revenge — Quoted lines say every man killed was replaced by worse, then ask if that killing was for a country now abandoned.
Qué aprendes en este capítulo
Puntos de enseñanza
Repasa justo después de verMi nivel1/8
A1–C2 es la escala MCER. Las tarjetas por encima del nivel elegido se atenúan y la reproducción no se pausa en ellas.
Puntos de lengua
Toca una tarjeta para saltar a ese momentoFrases de oro
Una gran frase en sí misma: por qué y cómo usarla“Every man we killed has been replaced by worse!”
Por qué es buena
The passive perfect turns a finished killing into a worse replacement.
Registro
Informal
Úsala tú
Every account we banned has been replaced by a louder one.
“Why cut my fingernails? They'll grow back.”
Por qué es buena
A bathroom image shrinks the operation until the effort looks pointless.
Registro
Informal
Úsala tú
Why wipe the ads tonight? They will be back by morning.
“You killed them for the sake of a country you now choose to abandon.”
Por qué es buena
The noble motive stays while the person who used it walks out.
Registro
Formal
Úsala tú
You argued all night for the sake of a project you now choose to leave.
“And you can't-- there's no rug big enough to sweep these problems under.”
Por qué es buena
He aborts the sentence, then makes the hiding place too small to exist.
Registro
Informal
Úsala tú
There is no slide big enough to hide these bugs before Friday.
“And so, "Munich" is a prayer for peace, but peace the hard way.”
Por qué es buena
The prayer is offered and then stripped of every easy reading of peace.
Registro
literary
Úsala tú
This meeting is a prayer for calm, but calm the hard way.
Monólogo
Un personaje sostiene la escena: practícalo entero❝ Peace the hard way
Spielberg: I made the choice because I wanted people to say "Munich" is the context for problems that exist in today's world and basically are threatening to all of us. You know, history is its own reminder of how bad things can get. And if we don't solve these problems, they accumulate. And you can't-- there's no rug big enough to sweep these problems under. And eventually, something is going to happen. And so, "Munich" is a prayer for peace, but peace the hard way. You know, peace by discovering within yourself your moral high ground.
He shuts the hiding place, then offers peace only as costly work done inside yourself.
Preguntas frecuentes
La pregunta, luego la fraseWhy refuse any excuse before trying to understand the killers?
The opening question is how you make a film that allows some understanding of why the men who murdered the athletes did what they did. The next line answers the risk in that question: "Not in any way to excuse it, but to try and comprehend it." Excuse is closed first. Only then is comprehension allowed.
How do the fingernail line and "replaced by worse" fit together?
"Every man we killed has been replaced by worse" says each person killed was swapped for someone more dangerous. "Why cut my fingernails? They'll grow back" does not repeat that sentence. Fingernails are the subject: cut them and they return. The image is a comparison. Removal does not stop them coming back.
Why are the Twin Towers in such a quiet ending?
A speaker says the ending is not celebratory and is not rejoicing in the enemy's death. It is "incredibly quiet," and the Towers show only on a second viewing. The person who shot it says one take left space in the frame because the Towers would be put there. Beside that image, the speech says there is no rug big enough to sweep these problems under.
Why call it peace the hard way instead of just peace?
The line is "Munich is a prayer for peace, but peace the hard way." The following line says what that hard way is: "peace by discovering within yourself your moral high ground." The difficulty is finding a moral stand you can occupy. It is not a remark about a long road.
Does anyone here defend the charge of moral equivalence?
One speaker says the movie was seen as suffering from a sense of moral equivalence, "which is really the bravest thing about the movie," because it looks for humanity on both sides. The following lines add that ambiguity is not usually tied to Spielberg's films, and that Munich goes furthest in bluntness and ferocity.