“Operation Finale”: Chance For Untold Story to be Told

In 1960, Israeli secret agents captured the notorious Adolf Eichmann, who had been hiding in Argentina, the man who came up with the Final Solution during WWII to murder all Jewish people (and other “undesirables” in German society). With performances by Oscar Isaac (Star Wars, Inside Llewyn Davis) and Ben Kingsley (Schindler’s List, Ghandi), Operation Finale is a story worth telling, and one that we must never forget in such a time when the same bigoted attitudes we saw in the 1940s are returning, though they never really left.

The moments of tension in the film are palatable. The audience will be able to feel themselves grinding their teeth as Eichmann (Kingsley) manipulates Malkin (Isaac) in a dark bedroom, asking him about who he lost in the Holocaust, asking Malkin if he can see his family one more time, among other things. Moviegoers will feel themselves sympathizing with the agents as they struggle with killing Eichmann immediately for what he had done to their families and people, or whether to keep him alive so that he can be brought to justice. They will also be troubled by the fact that Eichmann is a human, not some otherworldly monster, and that these senseless crimes were committed by men.

The film allows us a peek into the heart-shattering reality of the Holocaust without showing us the gory details. One scene in particular shows up multiple times in the film. A mass grave, hundreds of weeping people, men, women, and children, standing helplessly, staring down the rifle barrels. The executions are never shown, but the stoic reactions, or lack thereof,  of the Nazi soldiers are. Using that as a segway, the performances in this film are phenomenal.

Besides the story following Eichmann and Malkin, there’s another story contained in the film. A story that helped lead the agents to Eichmann. A young woman, Sylvia Herman, played excellently by Haley Lu Richardson, falls in love with a young man named Klaus, played by Joe Alwyn. Klaus attends meetings where it is required of him to wear an armband. Slyvia, the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, is oblivious to the idea, until she attends a meeting, that Klaus is a Nazi. To avoid spoilers, this review will not tell you how this is connected to the story of Eichmann and Malkin.

In conclusion, Operation Finale wins nine out of ten stars. Cinematography, acting, music, and editing all combine into one to tell us the untold story of Peter Malkin, his peers, and the hunt for a Nazi mastermind.