Inside the World Premiere of Oscar Isaac & Sir Ben Kingsley's Historical Thriller Operation Finale

Inside the World Premiere of Oscar Isaac and Sir Ben Kingsley’s Historical Thriller, Operation Finale

“Thank you all for coming! It was a labor of love!” professed Director Chris Weitz as he introduced his film, Operation Finale, at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center. The historical thriller follows Mossad secret agent, Peter Malkin, played by Oscar Isaac, on a covert mission to pluck Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi Lieutenant and “architect of the Final Solution,” out of hiding in Argentina during the 1960s. On the red carpet, Malkin’s real life son, Omer Malkin, shed a bit more light on the father he grew up with. “He was a funny guy! It was hard to believe he was a spy because he was like an absentminded professor. He had two personalities! He was a guy who was confused and casual on one hand and on the other hand he was focused and very sharp. And he was always an artist--he was always writing and painting and somehow he ended up being a spy. Even as a spy, his creativity as an artist made him who he is.” In the film, we see bouts of Malkin drawing and painting while crafting ways on how to get Eichmann to trial in Israel—a trial broadcasted to the entire world in 1961.

It wasn’t just a boys club. In a black, crystal embellished Rochas gown, Mélanie Laurent, who plays the levelheaded doctor in Malkin’s “hit squad,” mused over her being the only woman in the a team of men. “I was surrounded by so many men on set! I was the only female in the [safe] house. It was great! They were all gentlemen!”

The entire scene at the premiere was a mini reunion. Haley Lu Richardson in Miu Miu rushed up to Isaac during the group photo and jokingly asked, “Remember me?!” Richardson played a unassuming cardigan-loving girl not to be underestimated. Her character, Sylvia, quietly helped the Mossad Intelligence Agency confirm Eichmann’s identity.

After the goosebump-inducing screening, crowds crossed over to the glass encased Lincoln Ristorante for the after party. Tables of hanger steak, prosciutto, cheese and pasta were intermingled with candles and vases of scarlet roses and orchids. Oscar winner Ben Kingsley, who played the notorious Adolf Eichmann, weaved in and out of the crowd. Director Weitz made it clear this wasn’t just a movie about the past or just about the capture of a villainous Nazi. “One thing that would be nice is if everyone would apply this film to what’s going on now around the world because we’re seeing a surge in nationalist, racist and authoritarian tendencies politically and I think it’s important to realize that Germany in the 1930s wasn’t unique. It can happen anywhere.”

Operation Finale will thrill in theaters on Wednesday, August 29th.