Operation Finale (2018) | Film Review

“I will leap into my grave laughing, because the feeling that I have five million human beings on my conscience is for me a source of extraordinary satisfaction.” Adolf Eichmann

After the fall of Nazi Germany, many Nazi officials managed to escape the allied forces. Some found shelter in the French Foreign Legion, others disappeared into the populations of countries who were unaware of their presence, and still others were actively sheltered by countries who were very much in the know. After the creation of the Jewish State of Israel in 1948, the fledgling Israeli Intelligence Service – the Mossad – made the location and capture of these escaped Nazis something of a personal crusade. In 1960, they caught the biggest fish to have escaped the allied net: Adolf Eichmann, the logistical planner behind Hitler’s “Final Solution”: the systematic genocide of 6 million European Jews. Operation Finale tells the story of the Mossad operation that finally brought Eichmann to justice.

The film is told from the point of view of a team of Mossad agents sent to Buenos Aries, Argentina to capture Eichmann after his presence is relayed to them by a local informant. Following the war, Argentina became a haven for escaped Nazis. Elements of the Argentinian government were not only aware of these criminals, they actively protected them, largely due to a shared belief in Nazi ideology. Nazis lived “openly”, in that they took on assumed names, but their true identities were no secret to the communities in which they lived. In an act of extreme irony, far beyond mere callousness, Eichmann himself assumed the identity of an Argentinian Jew.

The events of this film are set in motion by a chance encounter in a movie theater between Eichmann’s son Kraus (Joe Alwyn) and Sylvia Hermann (Haley Lu Richardson), the daughter of the informant who reports Eichmann’s whereabouts to the Mossad. Once Israeli agents in Argentina confirm that their target is indeed Eichmann, the team is put together to capture him at all costs. It is stressed to the team that Eichmann (Ben Kingsley) is to be captured for trial, NOT simply executed. Understandably, some of the team are not happy with this instruction. Peter Malkin (Oscar Issac) – who lost his sister and her 3 children to the Nazi genocide – is especially unhappy with this order, and that conflict within himself and other members of the team make for some tense moments in the film.

There is obviously a lot of material to work with in a story like this, and director Chris Weitz uses that material well to weave the audience into the story. Operations of this type rarely go as planned, and Operation: Finale was no exception. From the tension of the actual physical abduction of Eichmann (Ben Kingsley), to the series of unforeseen incidents that follow as they attempt to smuggle him out of Argentia, Weitz uses moments of suspense interspersed with genuine levity to keep the audience engaged. Weitz also peppers in flashbacks to family members each of the Israelis lost to Eichmann’s plan during the war, giving the audience a view into their individual motivations for undertaking this dangerous mission.

The casting for this film is damn near perfect. Kingsley and Issac are definitely the two leads, but the supporting cast is incredibly strong. Of particular note is Joe Alwyn as Klaus Eichmann. Think of any recruiting poster for the Nazi army that you may have seen in a textbook, and likely you are mentally picturing Alwyn in this role. Broad shouldered, blue eyed, blonde haired, and absolutely crazy. He has listened to his father espouse the Nazi party line his entire life, and he is a definite believer. The actors making up the Israeli operations team are solid, if relatively unrecognizable. Rafi Eitan (Nick Kroll) serves up the humor when it is needed to defuse a tense situation, and Hanna Elian (Mélanie Laurent), the reluctant doctor who accompanies the team to sedate Eichmann without killing him, were the two stand-outs for me.

There are scenes in this film that are genuinely unsettling. Specifically, a scene in the backroom of an Argentine restaurant where the mayor of Buenos Aries is meeting with a group of local officials and Nazis. The talk turns to the Jews as being the cause of all of Argentina’s woes, and quickly escalates to the entire crowd heiling Hitler and throwing the Nazi salute, all while Richardson’s character watches in horror from the back of the room. Given that these events took place 15 years after the fall of the Nazi party, it was truly chilling to watch. Taken in context with present day events around the world, it becomes downright frightening. Whether the scenes are taking place inside or out, there is very little light to be had, creating an overly dark visual aesthetic. This overall theme, for me anyway, added to the tension is a subtle way that I enjoyed.

My major complaint with this film is the pacing. While I found the story engaging enough to hold my interest, others with a more causal interest in these events may become bored at the midpoint of the film. The entire sequence which occurs in the Israeli safe house after Eichmann is abducted could’ve been shortened by 15-20 minutes without serious harm being done to the story. One of the major complaints I have heard is that the story is too preachy and that the director goes too far, especially early in the film, to tie in to current events and attitudes. On that point I will simply disagree. When it comes to learning the lessons of The Holocaust, there is no such thing as “too preachy”.

I do not see this film being a major money-maker for the studio and I don’t believe that it was made for that purpose. Much like Anthropoid, or even Dunkirk, this was simply an amazing story that someone felt was important enough to commit to film. In that, I definitely agree. Not all the perpetrators of The Holocaust faced justice at Nuremburg, and some never faced justice at all. The capture, trial, and execution of Eichmann by Israel was an enormous relief to the citizens of that country. It helped create the reputation of the Mossad as one of the most capable (and quietly feared) intelligence services in the world, and, finally, it may have brought some small measure of peace to the families of Eichmann’s 6 million victims. More than anyone else, I think this movie was made for them.