This historical film about the capture of Holocaust orchestrator, Adolf Eichmann, doesn’t leave as much of a “gut punch” as we hoped. It’s a powerful story, rife with tension, but the pace is uneven and we thought the acting too understated. Eichmann is the man who ordered Jews to be transported to extermination camps and shot to be buried in mass graves. He was to carry out Hitler’s the “Final Solution.”
Ben Kingsley once again shows his amazing range, but we found his characterization of this evil man much too humanized. Director Chris Weitz seemed to be trying to make Eichmann into a three dimensional character. He was a loyal Nazi, but also a loving family man, as well as a heartless murderer who carried out the Jewish genocide. This is an unusual turn for Kingsley who has played Holocaust survivors more than once in Schindler’s List and as Ann Frank’s father in The Diary of Ann Frank, and as famed Nazi Hunter, Elie Wiesel.
In this confusing portrayal of Eichmann, he plays mildly defiant and uncharacteristically calm under the circumstances. Granted, Eichmann is an older man when he is found in 1960 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Eichmann was one of many Nazis who fled to South America. It’s 15 years after the end of the war, but he’s still a member a Nazi cell peddling their hatred toward Jews.
A prime example is the case of a 16-year-old Jewish girl, Sylvia Hermann, (Haley Lu Richardson), who mistakenly attends a Nazi rally with her boyfriend, Klaus, (Joe Alwyn) who is not only one of the faithful, but Eichmann’s son. Sylvia’s father (Peter Strauss) is a blind concentration camp survivor who reports the find to Israeli agents. She paid a terrifying price for it later.
Weitz loses focus in his storytelling. It’s pace is uneven, slow and plodding . Finding Eichmann doesn’t take much time and neither does capturing him, even though that scene shows how the Israeli Mossad agents, led by Peter Malkin, (Oscar Isaac – Star Wars: The last Jedi, Inside Llewelyn Davis) almost blew it. The scramble to get out of Argentina before being caught themselves is almost comical.
The scenes in the safe house where the group of Israeli agents hold Eichmann are so sluggish. As with much of Matthew Orton’s script, the measured pace has the feel of slow-moving mud slide. Weitz even shows the Israeli Mossad going about their business in a casual, unemotional way, despite the fact that they are hunting down genocidal maniacal killers.
The mostly gentle treatment of Eichmann comes off as inauthentic and unrealistic, even thought Malkin just wants to keep Eichmann alive so he can stand trial in Israel for his war crimes. The crucial demand that Eichmann sign a statement before they can head back to Israel simply isn’t enough of a grabber.
The Mossad agents taking turns watching Eichmann include Rossi (Nick Kroll), Zvi (Michael Aranov) and Malkin’s ex-girlfriend, Hannah (Melanie Laurent). Malkin and Hannah’s relationship, past and present is not directed well. Malkin ends up having a much more intimate relationship with Eichmann. The scene where he shaves his captive with a straight razor is frightening. Malkin is having flashbacks of his sister begging for her life while he is dragging the razor across Eichmann’s throat. You don’t know if he’s going to finish or finish the man off, but he’s just too calm, kind and gentle toward the man he hates.
When they finally make a break for the airport, the film wraps up way too quickly. The hangups over proper flight documents and then almost immediately seeing Eichmann in his glass box on trial should be more emotional, but it’s a throwaway. There is some, but very little archival footage of Holocaust victims and survivors testifying, but you don’t get to hear their stories. These scenes could have been better edited to have more impact. The whole film lacks balance between the personal and historical stories. Seeing what happened in Germany and what men like Eichmann were capable of doing is a history lesson. But especially now, when Neo-Nazis and white supremacists are center stage on American streets, this film should have sent a more powerful message as a warning to say “Never forget” and “Never again.”
MGM 2 hours 8 minutes PG-13
