Operation Finale (Oscar Isaac, Ben Kingsley) – In the history of bad people, Adolf Eichmann ranks right up there. Architect of the “final solution,” Eichmann was the highest-ranking Nazi to escape Germany after World War II. Unlike Hitler, Himmler and Goebbels, Eichmann didn’t kill himself. Rather, he escaped to Argentina, a notorious post-war Nazi haven. Tracked down by Israel’s Mossad, he was hunted down and returned for trial.
Operation Finale tells the story of the hunt, the capture, and the harrowing escape to justice. Starring (and produced by) Oscar Isaac as the leader of the Israeli unit sent to Buenos Aires to find and kidnap Eichmann, Operation Finale is riveting if a bit “talky.” As played by Oscar winner Ben Kingsley, Eichmann doesn’t regret anything but explains away his crimes against humanity as merely the act of a loyal soldier. He doesn’t think he should pay for the sins of the Reich, and he is a loyal family man, who ultimately agrees to go back to Israel for trial if he gets one more chance to see his wife.
The time frame is Argentina 1960-62. The story is a familiar one to Jews of that age and to students of the history of the Holocaust. Not so for people of the last two generations who barely know that the Holocaust occurred. And I can’t imagine what the white supremacists and Holocaust deniers actually know about Eichmann.
Operation Finale is your basic well-acted, well intentioned independent film that won’t do much box office. It is reminiscent of Munich in tone and plot. It will have a fierce and devoted audience because it delves deeply into a story about which few people know. It is a critical reminder in these days of scary nationalism and growing anti-Semitism that evil takes many forms and never disappears.