If you still aren’t bored after reading my earlier ones on war then here’s one more. Anyways, notice how mediocre movies or average running movies turn out to be classics after a time? Take any of the movies made earlier. Sharaabi was an ideal example of a movie which was an average movie on commercial lines. However, if you watch it now on telly, it’s a classic. (atleast borders that) We feel SRK is a below average actor getting plump roles, but if you watch the same movies 20 years later, they are masterpieces.
The Odessa file is one such average movie from the earlier decades.
With the war turning into a definitive defeat for the Nazis, they organized a huge group to assist in helping officers disappear into other nations. Most were reported seen in Latin America. A lot of gold accumulated by the Nazis was used to help settle these officers of the third reich. Once the war was complete, they would return, rebuild and help organize Germany. The name of this organization is called the Odessa. (meaning an organization of former members of the SS) But yes, there is a basis for the story. Some documents captured at the end of the war reveal that such an organization did exist. And knowing German efficiency, they documented each and every step with precision.
Jon Voight plays Peter Miller a freelance journalist. An old Jew Salomon Tauber a witness to the horrors perpertrated by the SS in the Riga ghetto commits suicide leaving his diary. The police commandant gives the diary to Peter, who is sickened by what he reads but with no obvious story to gain from it, nonetheless decides to track down the ghetto commandant, Eduard Roschman. But what has Peter to gain from it other than the story? When the police commandant is not interested in the chase, why is Peter making it his own? Peter comes across Simon Weisenthal whose sole purpose was to track down Nazis and bring them to court. (Simon helped hunt a lot of the Nazi war criminals on completion of the war.) Simon gives him training to go undercover and track down Roschmann (the Nazi)
Peter’s enquiries see him travel across Germany and numerous attempts on his life. Credit should be given to the director for making it into a visual masterpiece.
By the way, the story is a fictional story, but there really was a Roschmann called the "butcher of Riga" and was one of ‘them’ who got away –though dead.
The story is well presented and there are a few scenes where your heart would skip a beat. Like when Peter is pushed down the track just as the train arrives. There are other scenes too, but let’s leave them aside.
What you should look for? A good gripping story of events which happened in the 60s. And of course what was Peter’s personal reason for risking his life? Notice how some of the events such as Kennedy’s assassination are highlighted in the movie.Some scenes in ‘The Assignment’ (The hunt for Carlos, a terrorist) are a direct copy of this movie. But then, the background insights about life in the 60’s are well captured. Maria Schell plays Frau Miller. (And you’ll understand why Cousin2 wants to be a blonde)
Watch the movie for the complete story. The movie is centralized on Peter Miller. But the action and each of the scenes gives you an tremendous effect of the suspense buildup. All the other characters in the movie play small roles but add up to the suspense. In the climax, you sometimes feel, Peter had a selfish reason, but still he did Simon’s job.
Trivia – Most of the novel/movie was based on facts.
Richard Glücks, former SS Inspector of Concentration Camps who disappeared after World War II is rumored to have been one of the founding members of the ODESSA.
Jon Voight is Angelina Jolie’s dad. He also has a son who is a part time actor and director of some movies/TV serials.
Directed by Ronald Neame
Runtime: 130 min