*“Operation Finale,” a film directed by Chris Weitz, from a script written by Matthew Orton, tells the story of the hunt for and apprehension of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, the architect behind the Holocaust.
The film stars Oscar Isaac as Peter Malkin, the Mossad agent who apprehended Eichmann and Academy Award Winner Ben Kingsley (Ghandi) as Eichmann, along with a cast of other very talented actors, including, Nick Kroll (Rossi), Melanie Laurent (Hanna), Peter Strauss (Lothar Hermann) and Joe Alwyn (Klaus Eichmann).
Eichmann was apprehended in Argentina, in May 1960, where he was living under the name of Ricardo Klement. Argentina had a history of turning down extradition requests for Nazi criminals, so instead of requesting extradition, it was decided that Eichmann should be hijacked and brought to Israel for trial. What transpired during the hunt that led to Eichmann’s capture made for an interesting film.
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The film begins with Peter Malkin in Austria, in 1954, conducting a raid on the home of a suspected Nazi. Although the raid netted them a Nazi, he actually shot the wrong man, on Christmas, which was something he had to come to terms with over the years, in addition to other things, like the murder of his sister and her children, at the hands of the Nazis, an image that haunted him throughout the film.
Moving on to Argentina, where the film, “Imitation of Life” is being shown at a movie theater where Sylvia Hermann (Haley Lu Richardson) meets Klaus Eichmann and they began to date, which turns out to be all bad for the Eichmann’s, since it is Sylvia who mentioned Adolph Eichmann to her father, which spring-boarded Mossad’s hunt for him.
Some people in Mossad wanted to assassinate Eichmann and others wanted to capture him and make him stand trial. Capturing him won out, so a plan was put in place to transport him from Argentina to Israel.
The plan included keeping Eichmann in a safe house until he could be transported. This is where the bulk of the action took place and the cat and mouse interaction between Malkin and Eichmann at the safe house, not only showed the psychological chemistry between Malkin and Eichmann, if you can call the fit “chemistry,” but also the acting skills of Isaac and Kingsley. They were very convincing, as was the entire cast, which included Laurent as Hanna, the anesthesiologist, and Malkin’s ex, responsible for sedating Eichmann for travel. Hanna was fighting her own demons. Actually, most of the Mossad agents had flashbacks of not-so-happy times.
Although the extraction did not go off as planned, suffice it to say that Malkin and crew got Eichmann to Israel, where he stood trail in open court.
“Operation Finale” is a story worth telling and a film worth seeing. It is well made, well acted and well directed. If you are a history buff, you will enjoy it and if you are not, you may still enjoy it or if nothing else, pick up a few nuggets of information. I know I became a little more informed.
Marilyn Smith is a Los Angeles based writer/reviewer. Contact her via [email protected].
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