Maidgethma Wonderfully offbeat film!

Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

ben hibburd After the suicide of an elderly Jewish man, journalist Peter Miller (Jon Voight) discovers the mans journal detailing his account of witnessing former SS captain Eduard Roschmann (Maximilian Schell) at an opera three weeks prior to his suicide. Roschmann was the commandant of Riga concentration camp where was held captive at during WWII.As Miller begins to investigate the sighting of Roschermann, he stumbles across Odessa, a group made up of former SS officers. They have fled Nazi Germany during the tail end of the war, but who are still committed to the cause. They have deep Influences in all aspects of government including the police across many countries. This leads Miller down a treacherous rabbit hole of dark alleyways, untrustworthy informants and suspicious men in fedoras following him in the dead of night, as he gets closer to discovering their ultimate plot.Jon Voight turns in a good performance as Peter Miller, a man who's on a singular mission of justice, whether it costs him his life or not. Voight brings a-lot of credibility to the film, the scenes in which he has to portray emotional weight feel sincere. Maximilian Schell also gives a terrific performance in his portrayal of the malevolent, fiendish SS captain.The Odessa File is directed by Ronald Neame, the film is well shot and edited. It deals with real world atrocities, that have been mixed/adapted with different names/places for the most part. It's an effective political thriller, the film manages to keep it's plot constantly moving and involving, even if at times it feels like it's treating its subject matter a bit too safe. The film doesn't have too many memorable moments or scenes to make itself standout in a time where political thrillers were dominant during the 1970s. It doesn't have the same ferocious impact as a film like Marathon Man. The Odessa File falls slightly short of the heights of the best political thrillers of the 1970s. It still is an Interesting film, and one that deserves to be discovered again.

taylorjan-63962 First saw this film some years ago and found it moving and interesting. I can still remember the feeling of the hairs standing up on the back of my neck at a revelation. Such a brilliant well told story.I did notice something odd while watching it for the upteenth time. The scene in the underground station. Before the train comes: Sigi and Peter pass through the passengers and we see a grey haired man wearing a camel coloured coat and light scarf, and a hat When the train halts and the doors open, the guard alights and I'm sure the same man is behind him on the train (minus the hat)! I only noticed him as he reminded me of my dad.Anyway, great film although some may find it dated - it's very '70s. You'd never know the actress playing Sigi is English. Jon Voight is great, with a brilliant German accent.

vostf The book was a suspenseful investigation by journalist Peter Miller, and its specific pace was a real challenge to adapt into a 2-hour movie.The biggest challenge of all lied with the basis of the investigation: the diary of a Jewish inmate describing SS Captain Eduard Roschmann's war crimes in Riga. The extended version of it in the book sets a powerful back-story that fleshes up the investigation right from the start. However, despite the detailed horror, you can guess Miller's true motive in the book. In the movie the diary is roughly edited into a quick flashback, a caricature of what was supposed to be a powerful testimony. B&W images of Nazis and Jews in Riga are too sharp and clean, the prisoners themselves are clean and never seem to be starving, the horror, the true agony of men and women (no children on screen) treated as unworthy cattle is missing from every frame.Thus the adaptation misses the point of the book: an investigation building up from the diary. The director rushes a lot in the flashback and the next few steps, as a result suspense does not have time to settle in since we're thrown into a conspiracy action shuffling pace. The investigation looks like an easy game, only bumping into the ubiquitous SS manpower.So the two big flaws that make The Odessa File a mediocre movie are:a poor adaptation missing the point of suspense building up as the investigation gains momentum;the shortcuts in the seminal flashback and in the ODESSA premise summed up as a gigantic SS conspiracy pulling the strings behind every German administration (in 1963).One good point though, the disturbing clumsiness of Peter Miller as his investigation gets more and more dangerous, in the book, has been properly dealt with. But as in the book Peter Miller is a rather bland character. His stubbornness doesn't help to make him interesting as he does his job.

Neil Doyle THE ODESSA FILE is filmed in authentic European locations which give the story an added touch of realism, the kind needed in this sort of espionage thriller. JON VOIGHT does an excellent job of portraying a journalist who comes across a journal vividly describing what happened at a Nazi internment camp during the last days of WWII. He decides to go on a personal hunt for the much hated man he believes caused the death of some 80,000 Jews (MAXIMILIAN SCHELL). In doing so, he also reveals another purpose that will come as a surprise at the story's conclusion.But first he searches for "The Odessa File," full of documents on a band of former SS German soldiers who are now operating a secret society of former war criminals who still hold firmly to their former beliefs. The plot thickens once he begins to tackle the assignment, pitted against members who want him out of the way lest their true identities be revealed.Not quite as brilliant as THE DAY OF THE JACKAL, it's a Frederick Forsyth thriller that deserves the attention of anyone looking for an intelligent, well-paced thriller that benefits from excellent cinematography and a good background score with some music courtesy of Andrew Lloyd Webber long before his big show biz fame. The action scenes are handled for maximum effect and the final confrontation between Voigt and Schell makes for a satisfying climax.