Le dossier Odessa

Sometime between 1979 and today, filmmakers have lost the ability to tell a suspenseful story, to flesh out characters, so that today we see more style than substance, more gore and mayhem than plot development.

The Day of the Jackal, Marathon Man, Eye of the Needle, The Boys From Brazil and others will be labeled boring by many here because they must wait for something to happen. A typical example from Odessa is the reunion scene. Voight infiltrates the meeting of old German soldiers, make that old devoted Nazis, gathering in a beer hall. He snaps a photo of the speaker, shouting what sounds like the words of the pre-war Deutschland uber Alles. One man comes and begins his eviction from the hall. In the next scene we see him nursing his wounds, which are far more serious than the pushes we see. Tell me that today we would not witness a brutal beating punch by punch, kick by kick.

Films then used violence to advance the plot, such as the "Is it safe?" interrogation in Marathon Man. Seventies films are no shorter than today's masterpieces, but so much more intricate plot is compressed into their time frame.

Three Days of the Jackal is a perfect telling of a Forsyth book; we never become involved with the characters but watch in fascination. Here we follow Miller (Voight) giving us a horse in the race. I have reservations about the final confrontation with Schell and Miller's motivations but I have none about the story in general.

Only in the score does Odessa fall short; the music sounds almost if it was added as an afterthought and does nothing to enhance moods or foreshadow scenes. Worse, the score seems the beginning of a pattern that continues to this day where in some scenes the music is the main character. Only the bier-hall singing of the old Nazis sounds appropriate.

I rated the film 8 of 10.

Just a sad reminder of how gripping thrillers were a dime-a-dozen in the 70's, as compared to the suspense-bankrupt modern day. 2 hours of entertainment & not one single explosion!! Jon Voigt once again establishes himself as one of the best actors of the decade in his principal role as the tenacious journalist bent on revenge. The film & its subject matter could have easily been more confusing, and tho some scenes defy logic (a supposedly lethal hit man is reduced to dunderhead status in the film's pivotal fight scene), the story steams ahead fluidly til the climactic denoument. This is Voigt's movie, but the supporting cast is effective in small roles, especially Maximillian Schell in his few scenes & Mary Tamm, as Voigt's along-for-the-ride girlfriend who also happens to be very easy on the eyes. And look, there's Derek Jacobi, long before he met Kenneth Branagh, in a tiny, yet pivotal role! Forge, Derek, forge!! Not as good as "The Conversation" but infinitely better than any movie starring Sharon Stone or Steven Seagal (or both). 7 out of 10.

Woodward and Bernstein may have been intrepid, but they have nothing on Peter Miller, a freelance reporter who goes underground to reveal Nazis working in postwar West Germany to destroy Israel, circa early 1964.

Okay, Miller isn't real, but rather a character in Frederick Forsyth's novel "The Odessa File" brought to screen in 1974 with Jon Voight in the role of Miller. Not to be confused with the later, weaker Nazi-hunting potboiler "Boys From Brazil" (though the real-life Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal is a character in both), "Odessa File" benefits from a very involving opening and a clever, cathartic twist of a closer, though the two-plus-hour film gets soggier than sauerkraut much of the time in between.

Are we speaking German in this movie, or English? Director Ronald Neame can't seem to make up his mind, and it's a bit disconcerting to hear an old German army vet give a speech in accented English before his comrades break into a Teutonic sing-along. Voight often seems lost in a film where he is bounced around like a pinball, his gaze like that of a deer in the headlights, albeit a righteous deer. A lot of the actors around him similarly feel unmotivated, even the great Maximilian Schell who plays Miller's chief prey, a former camp commandant named Eduard Roschmann. Efficient though Roschmann may be, there are some gaping holes in the Nazi secondary Miller more stumbles through than exploits.

"The Odessa File" also has one of the oddest movie scores, fronted by a credit theme which, as all taut thrillers must, features Perry Como and a children's Christmas chorus. I kid you not. The incidental music is electronically processed '70s drivel that seems more suited for "Logan's Run," and was the brainchild of none other than Andrew Lloyd Webber, apparently wanting to try something different while waiting for inspiration for another libretto to strike then-partner Tim Rice.

But the film does deliver in the suspense department, setting up a nicely paranoid atmosphere wherein the sweet woman sent by the police to look after your girlfriend could be a spy helping a team of killers track you down. It may oversell the reach of the real ODESSA, a Nazi relocation group, in West Germany, but the screen treatment is at times quite gripping and believable, and of course features Nazis as bad guys, which seldom fails for entertainment.

You understand a bit of the mania behind Miller's actions, if not exactly his methods, when you see in flashback the way Roschmann handles his captives at Riga. Even after "Schindler's List" and other films have presented the same material in more graphic fashion, there's a lot of power in the scene of a woman looking at her husband before the door of a deadly truck closes over her face, or a moment when Roschmann toys with a man awaiting execution for a giggle.

If it's not as good as Forsyth's book, the film suffers from the same faults. The improbability of the scenes grows more apparent with repeat viewings, but a first-timer will likely be too involved much of the time to pay this much mind. And, like the novel, "Odessa File" the movie has a good heart. And what an ending! Don't let anyone spoil that for you, if you are the least bit tempted about seeing this; see it for yourself.

From the skillful and adroit hand of master novelist Frederick Forsythe comes this suspenseful story which begins in the wet streets of Berlin and traces itself to a WW II concentration camp called Riga. The movie is called " The Odessa File " and is based on the secret organization which helps ex-Nazis escape justice. Jon Voight plays Peter Miller a young German journalist who is intrigued by the diary of a survivor of the Riga death camp and left a journal identifying the 'Butcher' of Riga. With that diary, Miller decides to investigate if in fact Eduard Roschmann (Maximilian Schell) is still at large. Endangering his life and that of his girlfriend, Miller learns that Mossad, the Israeli Intelligence arm is also trying to locate the source of a electrical missile guidance system threatening Israel. With the help of Simon Wiesenthal (Shmuel Rodensky) and Mossad, Miller infiltrates the Oddessa organization and soon discovers Klaus Wenzer (Derek Jacobi) the man behind the false identifications given to escaping Nazis. However, Oddessa agents also discover who Miller really is and send their own men to dispose of him. The film is filled with intrigue, dark drama and tingling suspense and with Voight at the helm, this movie will soon join only the best which have all become Classics. ****

Good and exciting film plenty of tension , action and entertainment . This intelligent picture is packed with historic events , tension , hectic intrigue and the suspense is maintained throughout . The deeds of the movie start in Hamburg, 1963 . An elderly Jewish commits suicide , leaving a newspaper that falls into the hands of an attractive and intrepid journalist named Peter Miller (John Voight). The German Peter goes to a Nazi convention celebrating the ¨Division Siegfried¨ where is detained. After that, he discovers a secret organization named Odessa that may expose some former Nazis and the unthinkable crimes of cruelty , torture and mass murder carried out by the captain of the SS Eduard Roschmann , commandant of the notorious extermination camp in Riga (Latvia). It seems that Roschmann (Maximiliam Schell) survived the defeat of the Nazis, and that lives in some place of South America under a fake identity . Miller starts then a relentless pursuit , decided to meet him . The journalist isn't alone, as he collaborates with the famous Nazis hunter Simon Wiesenthal ; in addition to receive precious aid by the Secret Service agents (Peter Jeffreys) of Israel , the Mossad , that try to avoid some rockets full of biological virus to be taken by Nasser , President of Egypt .

Excellent film based on one the first successes of famous novelist Frederick Forsyth , a bestselling author . This stirring picture is full of suspense , tension , thrills and is very entertaining . The film's intrigue snowballs toward an exciting final. Extraordinary casting , all of whom give admirable acting as starring Jon Voight ("Midnight Cowboy") who plays perfectly as dynamic journalist ; brilliant the British Derek Jacobi , the German Klaus Lowitsch , and of course the Maximilian Schell's interpretation who steals the show as haughty Nazi.

We see this sensational film not only by its action and intrigue but also by the historical deeds that are well depicted and related to Simon Wiesenthal and concentration camps as Riga and Flossenburg where was executed Admiral Canaris . Even only for that reason the film worthwhile seeing . Spectacular musical score fitting to action by nowadays very famous Andrew Lloyd Weber , including a lively and jolly Christmas song at the main and ending titles . Furthermore , colorful and atmospheric cinematography by classic cameraman Oswald Morris .

The motion picture is compellingly directed by Ronald Neame . Ronald's smoothly persuasive direction attracted reception by the public and was a success at the box office . Neame was one of Britain's best cameraman in the 1930s and 40s, working for David Lean, later he turned to direction in 1947 with 'Take my life'. His biggest hits was undoubtedly 'The Poseidon adventure' , 'Scrooge' , Gambit' , 'The prime of Miss Jean Brodie' , and 'Odessa file' . Rating: Splendid and excellent, above average .