Literally Speaking: The ODESSA File
Frederick Forsyth’s onscreen blurb at the start of the film tells the viewer that the film (of his novel) is based on real events but how closely the film mirrors the facts isn’t really important, it could be complete fiction and it would still be gripping thriller.
When freelance journalist Peter Miller is given the diary of a recently deceased survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, he, somewhat out of character, becomes obsessed with tracking down the camp’s commanding officer, Eduard Roschmann. Why the mercenary Miller is so affected by the journal is kept secret until the films climactic confrontation with Roschmann, but along the way he becomes involved with Israeli Intelligence, goes undercover to infiltrate ODESSA (the organisation formed by former SS officers) and has to contend with an ODESSA assassin and Derek Jacobi’s German accent.
That probably makes the film sound more action packed than it is, as it’s really quite a talky thriller; there are no car chases, no shootouts, and no explosions. It builds tension from the situation, when Miller is grilled by one of the ODESSA leaders we know his life hangs in the balance and all it will take is one mistake to give him away. Even when Miller is beaten after attending a rally of war veterans it takes place off screen.
Future Doctor Who companion, Mary Tamm, plays Miller’s exotic dancer girlfriend and adds a bit of glamour to the dreary Berlin locations while Derek Jacobi plays an ODESSA forger who’s also a bit of a mummy’s boy but it’s Jon Voight’s film, at least until that final confrontation.
