Anthropoid (2016) Review!!!

Synopsis – Based on the extraordinary true story of Operation Anthropoid, the WWII mission to assassinate SS General Reinhard Heydrich, the main architect behind the Final Solution and the Reich’s third in command after Hitler and Himmler.

My Take – After months of slogging through big-budget, special effects studio films that we usually don’t mind watch, it’s a relief to watch an old school film, that is part drama, part thriller and in part an action flick. This film is a very fine historical piece based on actual events, which takes through an eye opening account of what went on in Czechoslovakia during the period of Nazi rule. While some people may say it’s been more than 70 years since the Second World War ended, how many films can you make surrounding the event? But as long as the stories remain fascinating, why stop. While its title might make this British-French-Czech thriller sound like a thriller, it’s far from it; instead it shows us the war from the point of view of desperate Czechs and Slovaks fighting the Nazis. This is a violent, harrowing film about a real incident in WWII, and by the end you’ll feel weak-legged and drained. But it’s also a very fine film from director Sean Ellis that gives real insight into the horrors of the Nazi occupation of central Europe and the difficulties of resisting it. Though there are plenty of bad guys here, there are no purely good ones. We are reminded that Czechoslovakia was handed over by the allies to Hitler to appease him, entirely in vain. Under the Nazi jackboot not even close family can be trusted to keep secrets. We see acts of extraordinary bravery while continually questioning whether the price for those acts was too high. Director Sean Ellis, who co-wrote the script with writer Anthony Frewin, has undergone tireless research into the film’s secret mission of the Czech resistance known as Operation Anthropoid, whose sole purpose was to assassinate SS General Reinhard Heydrich, third in command of The Reich behind only Hitler and Himmler. Reinhard Heydrich was one of the worst human beings who ever lived. He chaired the Wannsee Conference that formalized the Final Solution, the Nazi plan to murder all Jews. He was also in charge of the Czech Republic. He brutalized the population and wiped out the resistance in short order. An interesting fact remains that, Hedrick was the only top Nazi to be assassinated, although there were assassination plots against others, significantly Hitler himself. Here, director Sean Ellis creates a group of real people with real relationships operating undercover in a very dangerous situation in order to carry out orders to assassinate a top commander in the German hierarchy. This film is a must for those interested in WWII in Nazi-occupied countries, a David and Goliath story where the Philistines don’t just walk away but mercilessly take retribution.

For those who haven’t seen the 1973 film Operation Daybreak, which covers the same story (As will the upcoming 2017 film HHhH , which has a more well known cast), the true story follows two resistance fighters, the Czech, Jan Kubis (Jamie Dornan) and a Slovak, Josef Gabcik (Cillian Murphy), who have being parachuted into Czechoslovakia after their training in England during WWII in 1942. Finding their way to the city only to discover their contact has been killed; the two find the tiny remnants of the surviving resistance hiding and announce their mission. Their mission is to assassinate of SS General Reinhard Heydrich (Detlef Bothe), Hilter’s third in command and main architect of the Final Solution, better known as the Butcher of Prague, or the Blonde Beast and the Hangman as thousands of citizens were slain under his reign of terror. Resistance members Ladislav Vanek (Marcin Dorocinski) and Uncle Hajsky (Toby Jones) are not immediately enthusiastic, mainly fearing the risks of retaliatory mass killings. They understand that this assassination may be more of a means of bringing respect to the Czechoslovak government in exile in London under Edvard Benes, yet decide to help the two to accomplish their mission. Over the next few months, the two soldiers spend time planning, observing and blending in, while living with their host family – the Moravecs. They become attached to two local ladies Marie Kovárníková (Charlotte Le Bon) and Lenka Fafková (Anna Geislerova), first as cover for the mission, and then in a more personal manner as tension builds and the mission gets closer. The film does not take in the grand sweep of history. There are no shots of London headquarters, or British uniforms. Lidice is mentioned in such an understated manner that filmgoers unfamiliar with it won’t know what has been said. The film starts off fairly slow in the months of preparation, a lot of political conflicts within the resistance due to knowing what the ramifications are likely to be, should they succeed. But the second part it’s incredible, fierce and intense. The action sequences are captured excellently, giving a great sense of horrid realism and doesn’t let up until the conclusion. The action reminded me of Saving Private Ryan, and the epic church scene was like the last stand at the Alamo. The resistance holding their position for over six grueling hours as the hordes of Nazis attempt to breach the hideout. The only foreign tongue we hear is German but it’s nice and good effort hearing all the cast speak with an accent. Some of the film is actually filmed at the locations in Prague adding to the realism of the film. It shows the brutality of Nazi Germany, the oppression people were under and what terrible fate was upon those who did not conform. The score, or lack of, was really good. Music director Robin Foster & Guy Farley managed to add suspense and silence was best suited for some of the more dramatic scenes. The color pallet of the film well suggests the tones of the 1940s and the production design here is first rate. Whilst its evident from the style and genre choices that this is a film set in the past, with wartime and Nazi iconography immediately setting the tone, director Ellis seeks to reflect themes that many will recognize in a society that occasionally feels too eerily similar to the events of the film, if not directly in westernized cities and countries, than in the media. Disloyalty, family, friends, loss, paranoia, strength, patriotism and truth are each explored in their own subtle way throughout the film, offering moral complex thoughts and notions throughout the film. One scene, in which a young lad is tortured before being reminded of his mother is blood-curdling and absolutely shocking, but never beyond that can we imagine as horror stories from similar areas devastated by war and extremism.

In silence, the words at the end of the film are displayed with audible gasps from the audience, and while this is dramatized from our past, the moment is stops deeply affecting is the moment we have lost touch with our pasts, and stopped learning from mistakes. This film spends a lot of time humanizing the two leads, the two soldiers, by slapping the story on with some romance, which to me could backfire, because it could mean the difference between Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor and Bryan Singer’s Valkyrie for example. But I totally understand why writer/director Sean Ellis felt the need to include the love interests, because they remind us that the stakes are high. And thankfully, it’s not done in a Hollywood manner; the romance does give depth to the two leads, who may have second thoughts about committing to the cause, considering the sacrifices ahead. But as soon as the standoff or the shootout happens, as I said earlier, the film’s final 45 minutes will give you a battle scene unlike anything you’ve ever seen. The film unfortunately drags quite a bit towards the middle, where little happens in terms of the plot or even character development. The scenes in question feel unnecessary, and the feature in general seems inefficient with its conveyance of information. It almost feels as though there is a longer cut in here, where the down-time is bolstered by deeper character growth and extra intricacies, but also feels as though it could’ve been much shorter, by streamlining some scenes to contain more exposition and retaining a greater focus on the main plot; the benefit of the longer cut would be to have a greater connection with the actual characters, as well as reinforcing some relationships that seem to spring from nowhere. Even though the film excels at conveying the situation, as well as the consequences and inevitabilities of that situation – the Nazis are still obviously villainous; it falls short at conveying character. Without research this film won’t be able to reach out to a general audience who don’t have a sense of who these people were, and this means that it may become hard to truly care about them beyond the knowledge that they actually existed. If we knew a little more about the leads, the film would instantly be more interesting and tense. The acting is top-notch starting with Cillian Murphy, about whom I still wonder that despite a wide range of superb performances, isn’t still considered a big star. Here he gives his usual lean and hungry performance as a man on a mission that has priority over everything else including his own life and those of others. Here he is ably assisted by Jamie Dornan as his partner who needs to find the courage to go through with the mission. While watching this film you tend to forget that Jamie Dornan was the pretty boy lead in a widely hated film called Fifty Shades of Grey, thankfully he brings his acting chops here with him. The always reliable Toby Jones, Charlotte Le Bon, Harry Lloyd and the rest of the cast do a great job of fitting into the place and time, as well as acting as necessary supplements to the situation. It is nice to see that a few Czech actors worked in the feature, most notably Anna Geislerová, who is apparently famous in the Czech film industry, as well as some polish and other mid- European ones. On the whole, ‘Anthropoid’ is a captivating thriller with a fantastic cast and an almost well written portrayal of important WWII events that are often over-looked.