The Odessa File

Even knowing that they are true, it can be hard to comprehend the actions committed by the German SS in World War II involving the Holocaust, the concentration camps, and in general, war crimes on an epically large scale. Literally millions of people died at their hands in hopes of creating a master race of Aryans, and no matter what was said, they knew they were doing something wrong. As the war turned and a German defeat became inevitable, many of the highest ranking SS officers made preparations for new lives, leaving their old, highly checkered pasts behind them. What did they do with their new lives? Author Frederick Forsyth went into the topic with a 1972 novel that two years later was turned into a feature length film, 1974's The Odessa File.

I'm a huge fan of movies (if you hadn't figured that out), and an equally big fan of any sort of reading. I think one of the great treats is reading a book/novel, and then finding out that it was turned into a movie, especially a book you enjoyed a lot. You wonder how will it translate? Will it live up to expectations? What changes were made?  Does the visual in your head while you read match the screen version? Unfortunately in the examples I can think of, the film rarely lives up to the novel.  Just too much has to be sacrificed, and the movie suffers because of it. That was my biggest complaint with The Odessa File, and one odd example of bad casting.

A young German freelance journalist, Peter Miller (Jon Voight) stumbles into the diary of a concentration camp survivor at the camp at Riga. Living in 1963 Germany, Miller has seen the horrors of the war brushed out of the public view too often and is horrified at what he reads about Riga's commandant, dubbed 'the Butcher, Eduard Roschmann (Maximilian Schell). Convinced there's a story in the diary, Miller begins to investigate, seeing if he can find any trace of the long since disappeared SS officer. He begins to find clues that point to Roschmann still being very much alive, but has he dug himself into a hole? Someone seems very interested in keeping Roschmann's identity safe, and the life of one journalist isn't enough to stop them.

Like the other Forsyth novels I've read -- Day of the Jackal and The Dogs of War -- I very much enjoyed The Odessa File. It's the kind of low-key thriller that picks up momentum and intensity along the way, building to something you can't quite put your finger on.  When the reveal/surprise does come, it doesn't disappoint either. The premise is great, a well-organized and well-funded group protecting the identities of former SS officers and soldiers in a worldwide network that boggles the mind. Stumbling into this, Miller is almost immediately in over his head, and it is his head on the chopping block if something goes wrong.  Director Ronald Neame certainly has his work cut out for him because Forsyth's style isn't always movie-friendly, but he makes a go at it.

As an author, Forsyth is obsessed (in a good way) with the details, the little things that make a story feel authentic. That doesn't always work in a movie where the details are the first to go.  Even at 130 minutes, 'Odessa' is both a little long and too short.  What's there isn't always very interesting, and what was cut out could probably have done a good job of fleshing the movie out some.  Instead, there's little sense of urgency or fear. An organization of former Nazis is hunting you down, and this is the best you can do in terms of making an audience feel uncomfortable? Because of the cuts to the story, Voight's Miller hops around too much with too many things going unexplained.  I read the book just a week before watching the movie, and at times felt lost.

When reading a book, my head just naturally starts imagining what certain characters look like.  That's typically one of my biggest problems with film versions; the stars never match up with the image in my head. So goes Jon Voight as German freelance journalist Peter Miller in a case of miscasting.  I'm not a huge fan of Voight to begin with, but he just wasn't the right choice to play this character. Physically, he doesn't look anything like the book's protagonist, and his attempt at a German accent is just bad.  Worst of all though, he turns an interesting character into a bland one. Schell as Roschmann doesn't have a big part, but he certainly makes it memorable in his brief but effective scenes. Also look out for Derek Jacobi as an Odessa forger, Mary Tamm as Sigrid, Peter's girlfriend, and Shmuel Rodensky as famed Nazi hunter Simon Weisenthal among many others in an ensemble cast.

Both the novel and the movie claim that the story is based in the truth with a real-life ODESSA organization helping former Nazis and SS create new lives for themselves (certain names and places changed obviously). The novel's ending (including a great twist delivered by Miller) is appropriate and authentic to the real-life and fictional characters if not exactly a happy ending. The movie rewrites history somewhat in an ending that disappointed me, mostly because it ties everything up nicely when the effort just wasn't needed. The film version on the whole makes some odd choices, handicapping an otherwise interesting set-up and premise. Not horrible at all, but stick with the book.

The Odessa File <---trailer (1974): **/****