ReelBob: ‘Orders From Above’ ★★★

By Bob Bloom

After watching the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann, political theorist Hannah Arendt coined the phrase “banality of evil” to describe the Nazi SS officer.

Her premise was that evil acts are not necessarily perpetrated by evil people. The validity of theory has been debated, but, nonetheless, the term does seem to apply to Eichmann.

And in writer-director Vir Srinivas’ film, “Orders From Above,” Arendt’s description of Eichmann is spotlighted.

The movie is based on the interrogation of Eichmann by an Israeli police officer, Capt. Avner Less.

Less, ordered by his superiors to elicit a confession from Eichmann, is reluctant to accept the assignment. Told that he has no choice, Less meets Eichmann in the nondescript motel room in which the Mossad (Israeli intelligence agency) has secreted him.

The large majority of the movie’s 87 minutes takes place in the room. “Orders From Above” is a mostly a two-person drama in which Less questions Eichmann about his role in the Holocaust.

From the outset, Eichmann denies any responsibility in the extermination program.

“I was a small cog in the gigantic machine of the Third Reich,” he tells Less.

Throughout the interrogation sessions, Eichmann continually denies any wrongdoing, deflecting blame onto subordinates who acted without his knowledge and superiors who directed his actions.

Over and over again Eichmann tells Less that he never personally killed anyone nor ordered the deaths of any Jews.

And while admitting he was at the Wannsee conference in which Nazi officials gathered to create the Final Solution, he again claims he had no part in the plan. He describes himself as insignificant, claiming he simply sat in a corner and listened.

Eichmann explains to Less that “all my life, I was accustomed to obedience.” He was, he says, simply a transportation officer who did what he was told.

Eichmann, who claims to be squeamish and sickened by violence, believes he has no blood on his hands.

Less disagrees, finally telling the prisoner that he “was a bureaucrat of murder,” and that one of his crimes was that of apathy.

“Orders From Above,” while a low-budget, static, two-person feature, is nonetheless compelling.

Richard Cotter as Less is a soft-spoken inquisitor who slowly gains Eichmann’s trust and draws him out. He does not directly confront Eichmann, but consistently shows him documents and telegrams in which his actions implicate him in the Holocaust and ask him to explain them.

He puts Eichmann at ease with his nonthreatening demeanor.

As Eichmann, Peter J. Donnelly is rather drab; an ordinary paper pusher who fails to see or accept his role in the killing of 6 million Jews.

And that brings us back to Arendt’s insight into Eichmann. He was not a fanatic nor a madman. He was worse; an administrator who simply did his job without concern for the consequences of his actions.

In the end, Eichmann was convicted of 15 criminal charges against the Jewish people and hanged. His death, though warranted, is a small consolation for the barbarism of the Nazi regime.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

ORDERS FROM ABOVE
3 stars out of 4
Not rated, disturbing images