Operation Finale. Chris Weitz, dir. With Ben Kingsley as Eichmann and Oscar Isaac as Malkin, how can you not have a great movie? There’s no mystery here—the story is a true one, and we know how it ends—but there are plenty of thrills and suspense. The viewer gets a glimpse at the spy techniques of Mossad and a hint about how the Argentine Junta learned the dirty tricks for its Dirty War from the right-wing Argentines and German and Italian fascists who fled to South America.

There’s a warning here for all people who bury their heads in the sand, overlooking the bigotry, hatred, and racism practiced by fascist fanatics. I was thinking a lot about events like Charlottesville while watching this film. Fascists took over Germany, Italy, and Japan and murdered millions; they took over Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay and murdered millions; and it could happen in the U.S. and again in Europe where the situation is looking a lot like 1930s Germany and Italy. Something for you too to think about while watching this excellent movie.

I usually don’t like do-overs, but the previous takes on the Eichmann’s capture and trial just weren’t satisfying. This movie is that and more.  The trial was where the world first heard and saw the atrocities committed by the Nazis with their “final solution”; Eichmann was one of the architects of that, if not THE architect.  He was the last main Nazi war criminal—Hitler, Goering, and Himmler committed suicide. Eichmann probably wanted Malkin to do that job for him. Eichmann was first and foremost a mass murderer, but he was also a cowardly weasel. But a quick death for him was too easy. Israel wanted to show the world his crimes. They succeeded.

Both Kingsley and Isaac do great acting jobs in this suspense flick. I hope they’re remembered for awards. We’ll see more from Isaac in the future, I’m sure.

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Goin’ the Extra Mile. MECHs = Mechanically Enhanced Cybernetic Humans. Ex-USN Master-at-Arms Mary Jo Melendez, family, and friends, including the MECHs, battle Chinese agents who want the MECH technology. This is #3 in the “Mary Jo Melendez Mysteries.” The action never stops! Coming from Carrick Publishing this fall—look for it!

In libris libertas!

This entry was posted on Friday, September 14th, 2018 at 3:30 am and is filed under Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.