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Operation Finale is a white-knuckle thriller that also just happens to be based on a true story. Director Chris Weitz helms the story of Peter Malkin (Oscar Isaac), who—along with a crack team of fellow Mossad and Shin Bet agents—tracked down and captured the war criminal Adolf Eichmann (Oscar-winner Ben Kingsley) years after he helped manufacture the Holocaust. The film features a few fantastic supporting performances—including Nick Kroll taking a break from comedy, and up-and-comer Haley Lu Richardson as a teenager hiding her Judaism from a Nazi boyfriend (Joe Alwyn)—but the rising tension between Isaac and Kingsley is a sight to behold, worth the price of admission alone.
Recently, I got the chance to sit down with Isaac and Weitz in New York City. The Star Wars actor and his director discussed feeling the weight of all the history behind the story of Operation Finale, as well as what role that story plays in 2018. Also, because I straight up needed to know, Oscar Isaac talked about what it's like to tackle iconic thespian Ben Kingsley into a ditch.
Check out what Isaac and Weitz had to say in the player above, and below is exactly what we talked about.
Oscar Isaac and Chris Weitz:
- Filming the scene in which Isaac's Peter Malkin violently captures Ben Kingsley's character.
- Specific moments when the weight of the story behind Operation Finale hit the actor and filmmaker.
- How Isaac avoided playing an exact copy of his real-life character.
- How Isaac went about finding the dynamic between his character and Adolf Eichmann.
- What role the story of Peter Malkin and the capture of Adolf Eichmann plays in 2018.
Here is the official synopsis for Operation Finale:
The thrilling true story follows the 1960 covert mission of legendary Mossad agent Peter Malkin as he infiltrates Argentina and captures Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi officer who masterminded the transportation logistics that brought millions of innocent Jews to their deaths in concentration camps.
