The Odessa File

The premise for the movie is excellent--there is an organization called "ODESSA" that helps ex-Nazis change their identities to avoid prosecution. Jon Voight is a reporter who stumbles upon this organization and infiltrates it with the help of the Mossad (Isreali secret service). Eventually, he unravels the key to destroying Odessa (about 80% into the movie) and from that point on, the movie takes a bit of a wrong turn. Instead of going to the proper authorities to get help, he goes off on his own to confront one particular Nazi. This didn't make sense until he explains WHY he did this. The explanation made some sense but seemed so incredibly improbable that it helped undermine an otherwise excellent movie. I hate plot holes or amazingly improbable coincidences in movies.

This film is remarkable on many levels, but two stand out: 1) the realistic portrayal of the events in Riga, wherein thousands of Jews were massacred by the Nazis, and 2) the fact that the "butcher" of these events in the film was not a fictional ploy but an actual SS officer named, as in the film, Rosschmann. The latter point is of interest, since the film provoked a world wide hunt for this murderer, who was located in South America, and who then fled to Paraguay where he died in 1977. The first part of the film is near perfect, though it gets more melodramatic in the latter part, with a number of unconvincing dramatic events added. One example: the journalist(Voight)attacking the burly professional hit man sent to kill him, and then actually winning a hand to hand struggle with him.

A great story, which combines twisted plots, chase scenes and the deadly combination of history and the present. One is utterly compelled to wonder exactly how fictional this story is, and also how such an organisation could operate beneath the veneer of respectability. There is no doubt that the motives of all the chief characters are distinct, and the plot forces one to watch as Muller tries to break into the seemingly impenetrable organisation. His journey to find the answers he is looking for, and all due to stopping on the side of the road for a couple of minutes to listen to the radio makes one also wonder what else is out there that should be revealed, but due to cover ups and apathy hasn't been!

Although it deviates from the excellent book's plot, The Odessa File is, in my opinion, Jon Voight's best performance. A good script is handled very well by the actors. Like all Frederick Forsyth's books, the film conveys the possibility that all the events in the film were completely accurate to real events. The ending of the film, when we find out the reason for Jon Voight's character tracking down the former Nazi, is a superb moment of suspense.

This thriller should go down as a classic. It has a convincing story a rare thing in movies that try to blend historical fact and fiction. It's tense from beginning to end and doesn't have annoying red herrings or plot twists. The casting is perfect. Maximillian Schell is ideal as the Nazi war criminal. Jon Voight is surprisingly convincing as a German accent and all. Good use of European supporting cast to avoid a fake feel. Good on location feel to it. Liked the evocative score too. It's one of the best thrillers about WWII subject matter even though it is set after the war.

Jon Voight does an excellent job in this intriguing film about a reporter searching for a war criminal who escaped Germany after World War II with the help of an organization called Odessa. His investigation leads him to Simon Wiesenthal and to a group of Israelis who train him to infiltrate Odessa. The historical setting is 1963 Germany, at the time of the Kennedy assassination This is a very suspenseful film with wonderful performances from the supporting cast as well: Mary Tamm, Maximillian Schell, Maria Schell, and Derek Jacoby. For me, The Odessa File has always had an old-fashioned feeling to it -it was made in 1974, set in 1963, and almost seems like it could have been made in the '40s. Truly an excellent film. As a bit of trivia no doubt already mentioned, Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the music for the film, which I frankly found rather intrusive.