During Sir Ben Kingsley’s 50-plus year career, the actor has been fortunate enough to play inspiring roles that mirror real-life people (Schindler’s List, Joseph). Yet, in his latest movie Operation Finale, Kingsley is playing a much different role: a murderer of millions.
Operation Finale tells the true story of a group of Israeli spies who track down Adolf Eichmann (Kinsgley), one of the leading Holocausts masterminds responsible for the death of millions of Jews. In the movie, Eichmann is seeking asylum in Argentina following the end of WWII and the fallout of the Holocaust.
In an interview with Movieguide®, Sir Ben Kingsley commented on the sheer evil of Eichmann, “I believe [Eichmann’s] quote is, ‘I leave laughing into my grave knowing that I bring 6 million souls with me…”
This sort of character seems to be a far departure for Kingsley, who played the Polish Jew Itzhak Stern in Steven Spielberg’s movie Schindler’s List. Kingsley states that the time spent with the actual Holocaust survivors when making Schindler’s List was “extraordinary” and calls them the “wisest and possibly most wounded people in the world.”
For the Academy Award-winning actor, he considers his past experiences of playing Jewish Holocaust survivors as important to his role as Eichmann, to let audiences know that this man existed and he [Eichmann] was proud of what he did.
“My perspective, and I believe Eli Wiesel would agree with this” Kinsley said, “was from the point of view of the victims, and my perspective was to honor the victims through my performance.”
When it comes to how recent these events were, Kingsley says they’re practically yesterday in historical terms, stating, “It’s a blink in God’s eye.”
Eichmann’s crimes are unspeakably horrendous, but thankfully, we serve a God who is the author of true justice.
Read our review here.
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