After Germany's defeat at the close of the second World War, many Nazis were able to escape justice by fleeing to other counties. One of the most prominent was Adolf Eichmann, a lieutenant colonel who was one of the organizers of the Holocaust. After moving to Argentina, Eichmann was pursued by Mossad, who were eager to bring one of the most hated Nazis to justice. Directed by Chris Weitz, the upcoming OPERATION FINALE will tell the story of a group of Israeli spies who work together to track down Adolf Eichmann in Argentina in the 1960's so that he can stand trial for war crimes in Israel.
According to Deadline, the man set to play the infamous Nazi will be none other than Ben Kingsley. Production on OPERATION FINALE is expected to kick off this fall in Argentina and Kingsley will star in the film opposite Oscar Isaac, who will play "the determined and wily Peter Malkin, an Israeli Mossad, who holds a deep hatred for the Nazis after they murdered his sister and her children. He has a particular obsession for nailing Eichmann." The screenplay by Matthew Orton is said to be closer in tone to Ben Affleck's ARGO rather than Steven Spielberg's MUNICH. Ben Kingsley is certainly capable of doing great work, but in the past decade it feels as though he just takes whatever comes his way, not that it's all been bad, but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that OPERATION FINALE will be one of the good ones.
Ben Kingsley was most recently seen in WAR MACHINE as Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan. The Netflix flick starred Brad Pitt as four-star General Glen McMahon, the man sent to put an end to George W. Bush's war in Afghanistan while also grappling with the government.
A pitch-black war story for our times, writer-director David Michôd (Animal Kingdom) recreates a U.S. General’s roller-coaster rise and fall as part reality, part savage parody – raising the specter of just where the line between them lies today. His is an absurdist look at a born leader’s ultra-confident march right into the dark heart of folly. At the story’s core is Brad Pitt’s sly take on one of the most polarizing war figures of a generation: successful, charismatic four-star General Stanley McChrystal, who leapt in like a rock star to command NATO forces in Afghanistan, only to be taken down by a journalist’s no-holds-barred exposé.
WAR MACHINE is now available on Netflix but OPERATION FINALE doesn't yet have a release date.