The Odessa File written by Frederick Forsythe

Details of the Film

Actor(s): Jon Voight, Maximilian Schell, Maria Schell, Derek Jacobi, Peter Jeffrey, Mary Tamm, Noel Willman

Director(s): Ronald Neame
Genre: Drama/Suspense

Classification: Parental Guidance
Production Year: 1974

Running Time: 2 hours 3 min
Main Language: English

I confess that I am a great fan of Frederick Forsyth, and Odessa File is one of his best written novels among a long list of bestsellers..He has an impressive list of novels to his credit "The Day of the Jackal ' was his first full length novel and an international best seller, which was also made into a very successful film with Edward Fox playing the lead..
Odessa File was his second novel, that became a bestseller and the film was equally successful.

The story

The Odessa File is set in West Germany in 1963, a period where many Germans just wanted to forget the past, but pursuit of former SS members; particularly those involved in the Holocaust; was still active...

It is essentially the story of Peter Miller, played by John Voight, a German free lance crime reporter in Hamburg, Germany, who accidentally stumbles on to Nazi classified information, that threatens his very existence, and a potential danger to anyone who comes across this information...

It begins with the discovery of the dairy written by a Jewish Holocaust survivor who kept a meticulous account of the atrocities of the Nazi concentration camps in Riga, and particularly about Commander Edmund Roschmann ' The butcher of Riga' who had shot a German Army captain, witnessed by Tauber, the Jewish prisoner..

Moved by what he had read, Miller decides to track Roschmann down and begins making enquiries into Roschmann's past and possible present. Miller now bent on tracking down Roschmann , finds his various investigations leading him to ODESSA ( A secret organization of the surviving Nazis), and there after he and his girlfriend played by Mary Tamm become marked. He is hunted down by the enemy at every stage and he barely manages to keep himself alive...His hunt for the ODESSA takes him to Argentina, where Roschmann has been living , as a prominent citizen looked up by the eminent citizens and respected by all.

Miller's investigations also attract the attention of Israeli Security, who see Miller as their chance to break the ODESSA open..

My views

The story is fast paced and racy, keeps one interested throughout. the story of Holocaust generally makes for an interesting reading and film, this is no exception!
The action sequences are well directed with a lot of suspense and it is a taut thriller that follows the book closely...

John Voight in the lead role has tried to do justice to his role , but he has never been a very effective actor. In this film the story and the action rises above the individual performances .He is ably supported by Maximillan schell in the role of Roschmann, ...I would recommend this movie to any viewer fond of a good thriller, and this one is easily a good one if not one of the best..the action is nail biting.
The movie was released in 1974 and went on to become highly successful..I had seen it then and liked it, but i loved it more this time when i watched it for the second time, after having read the novel. The novel is was very absorbing and touching especially where he writes about the life in concentration camps, and in the film they have shown it as effectively..
The cast consists of Maximillan Schell playing the role of Roschmann and Mary Tam as Sigi, Peter's Girl friend..
In fact the movie was instrumental in exposing the Real life "Butcher of Riga' who was holed up in Argentina. He was caught and arrested, but he managed to escape to Paraguay with the help of his supporters, where he lived until his death in 1977.