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The Odessa File
1974 130 min Germany, United Kingdom PG 12+
★6.9
Thriller
Director: Ronald Neame
📖 Based on the novel
«The Odessa File»
Trailers
Description
Following the suicide of an elderly Jewish man, investigative journalist Peter Miller sets out to hunt down an SS Captain and former concentration camp commander. In doing so he discovers that, despite allegations of war crimes, the former commander has become a man of importance in industry in post-war Germany, protected from prosecution by a powerful organisation of former SS members called Odessa.
US Gross:
$1.11M
Starring
Jon Voight
Actor
Maximilian Schell
Actor
Maria Schell
Actor
Key opinion
The Odessa File is widely regarded as a lackluster adaptation that fails to capture the tension and depth of the source material. While the lead performances are praised, the film suffers from a dull, uneven narrative structure that weakens as it progresses.
| Acting | Jon Voight and Maximilian Schell provide compelling, high-quality performances that anchor the film's weaker narrative segments. | |
| Adaptation | The narrative relies on an overly simplistic plot that strips away the complex organizational history found in the original novel. | |
| Pacing | The film fails to maintain momentum, shifting from a gripping opening into a dull, non-informative, and anticlimactic second half. | |
| Ending | The plot's final twist is viewed as controversial, with disagreement over whether its shock value compensates for the structural void of the preceding film. |