La caza de Eichmann

Adolf Eichmann, wanted in connection with millions of deaths, is suspected to be living incognito in Argentina. Mossad, Israel's secret intelligence organization is determined to bring Eichmann to justice . As Eichmann (Robert Duvall , also producer) was captured by a team of Mossad and Shin Bet agents led by Peter Markin (Arliss Howard) in San Fernando, Buenos Aires, an industrial community 20 km north of the center of Buenos Aires on May 11, 1960. The Mossad agents had arrived in Buenos Aires in April 1960 after Eichmann's identity was confirmed. After observing the suspect's routine for many days, they determined that he usually arrived home by bus from his work as foreman at a Mercedes-Benz factory around the same time every evening and planned to seize him when he was walking beside an open field from the bus stop to his house at 14 Garibaldi . As Eichmann got off a bus , a Mossad agent engaged him, asking him in Spanish if he had a moment ; Eichmann was frightened and attempted to leave, but while blinded by Mossad headlights two Mossad men seized him and wrestled him to the ground. After a struggle, he was brought to the car and hidden down on the floor. Eichmann told his captors later that as soon as they told him to keep quiet or they would shoot him, he knew he had been captured by Israelis. Eichmann was brought to a Mossad safe house, Tira, where he was kept for nine days, during which time his identity was double checked and confirmed .

This is a tense and thrilling reenactment of the capture of Eichmann, posing as Ricardo Klement , though contains excessive dialogs and little action . Being rightly based on a book written by Peter Markin as some years later , Peter Malkin, the member of the kidnapping team actually assigned to seize the suspect, wrote ¨Eichmann in My Hands¨, which describes the preparation for and details of the capture, while exploring Eichmann's character and motivations . The picture deals with the Israeli effort to kidnap Eichmann, as seen from the perspective of the leading agent Peter Markin who executed the mission along with an ample focus to Eichmann's own explanations as to the holocaust he committed . These deeds were previously adapted in ¨The House on Garibaldi Strret¨(1969) by Peter Collinson with Topol , Janet Suzman and Martin Landau . The motion picture was professionally realized by William A Graham who displays enough off-beat touches to keep things interesting , it was nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys and another 1 win & 5 nominations . William A Graham has directed various TV series and episodes as ¨The fugitive¨, ¨The Virginian¨, ¨Breaking point¨ and occasionally for cinema as ¨Return to the Blue Lagoon¨, Waterhole¨ , ¨Guyana tragedy ¨ and film-making several Western as ¨Montana¨ (90) ¨Billy the Kid¨ (89) , ¨Last days of Frank and Jesse James¨ (86) and ¨Harry Tracy , the last of the Wild Bunch¨.

The picture was well based on real events , these are the followings : Israel's official intelligence agency, Mossad, had as one of its principal assigned tasks the pursuit and capture of accused Nazi war criminals. Throughout the 1950s, many Jews and other victims of the Holocaust also dedicated themselves to finding Eichmann and other notorious Nazis. Among them was the Jewish Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. In 1954, Wiesenthal saw a letter received by an Austrian Baron from an associate living in Buenos Aires, saying Eichmann was in Argentina. He was captured by Mossad operatives in Argentina and taken to Israel to face trial in an Israeli court . Eichmann was drugged to appear drunk by an Israeli doctor included in the Mossad team and dressed as a flight attendant. He was smuggled out of Argentina on board a plane which a few days before had transported an Israeli delegation to the 150th anniversary celebration of Argentina's independence from Spain. For some time the Israeli government denied involvement in Eichmann's capture, claiming that he had been taken by Jewish volunteers who eagerly turned him over to Israeli authorities. Negotiations followed between Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Argentine president , while the abduction was met from radical right sectors in Argentina with a violent wave of antisemitism, carried on the streets and including assaults, torture and bombings . In Israel Eichman faced trial in a court on 15 criminal charges, including crimes against humanity and war crimes. He was found guilty and executed by hanging in 1962. He is the only person to have been executed in Israel on conviction by a civilian court

Sorry for my English...

For a while, I've been reading all the books available that talks about Eichmann. I wanted to know more about the man after the war and before his trial. I've read the book 'Eichmann in my hands (by Peter Malkin)' and 'Capturer Eichmann (Capture Eichmann)' in french. I was so surprise when I saw the movie. It was exactly (well 95%) the same as the book. When I saw Robert Duvall play Eichmann, my god, he looks like him. A very good actor. The same accent, moves, nervous ways, everything like Eichmann (if you saw the movie 'The specialist' the trial of Eichmann. The man who play Peter Malkin is very good too. Very committed. The way he looks at Eichmann, like he wants to kill him, but he don't, his eyes are expressive. When the actors are together in the bedroom, talking each order, there's no cameras. Well, see that movie, and read the book after or the best is to read the book before and watch the movie after. It's almost the same, very respectful to the book.

Brilliant portrayal of how Eichmann living under a fake identity in Argentina was considered an innocent kidnap victim by local authorities unaware of his true identity yet the Nazi hunters managed to sneak him and themselves out of the country by dressing in airline personnel uniforms when boarding that plane destined for Israel.

Any time you get the opportunity to see Robert Duvall work, you should take it. When the pot is sweetened by the chance to learn a little (or a lot) about an important historical event, then it's a no-brainer.

A far more carefully crafted story line distinguishes this film from the 1961 'Operation Eichmann'. The source of this film is the book, "Eichmann in my Hands", by Massad agent Peter Malkin, the primary Israeli Agent involved in Eichmann's capture in Buenos Aires.

The film is presented pretty much from the point-of-view of Malkin, played superbly by Arliss Howard, an actor who's career to date is papered with non-distinguishable work in non-descript films. His portrayal here is right on target. There is a nice turn as well by Jeffrey Tambor, a wonderful comedic actor, here cast completely against type in a serious role.

Much is the time when TV has been dismissed as a learning medium. Thankfully, made for TV movies like 'The Man Who Captured Eichmann" go far to dismiss that notion.

Most people will not care about the man who captured Adolph Eichmann; what they will care about is the fascinating and clever way the Mossad were able to whisk Eichmann out of Argentina, despite the best efforts of the local Nazi sympathizers to find him and keep him in the country. The role of Eichmann is a tour-de-force by Robert Duvall, an Academy-Award winning actor who richly deserved an Emmy for this television production role. Most of the other roles in the film are played by relatively unknown actors, and the production values are limited. However, the direction and dialogue is very sharp, and the film will keep you attention from beginning to end. Eichmann tried to justify his action to his captors, but I am sure no one was buying his sad story about his father forcing him to join the SS and the Nazi party. Duvall plays the role in a careful, understated manner, which captures the actual real-life personality of Eichmann to a tee. It was interesting to see how this action unfolded several decades after it actually took place when I was in school as a Freshman at Emerson High School in Union City. We saw the trial on TV, but we had no idea at the time what it took to get him to this trial.