Anthropoid
Director: Sean Ellis
Stars: Jamie Dornan, Cillian Murphy, Brian Caspe
Duration: 120 mins
Class: 15
KRS Releasing Ltd
Czechoslovakia 1941. The country is under Nazi occupation, suffering under the horrific jackboot of SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich. Dubbed ‘The Butcher of Prague’ Heydrich was third in command in the Third Reich, and ruled Czechoslovakia with an iron fist, effectively making its people prisoners in their own country.
The Czech government, in exile in London, was desperate to show its citizens that they were doing all possible for their country and in December that year, two Czech soldiers Josef Gabcík (Cillian Murphy) and Jan Kubis (Jamie Dornan), are parachuted into their occupied homeland, tasked with assassinating Heydrich. On arrival in the country, Gabcik and Kubis hook up with the Czech resistance, headed by Ladislav Vanek (Marcin Dorocinski) and Uncle Hajsky (Toby Jones), who are initially sceptical of the whole operation, and its inherent complications and risks.
Dubbed Operation Anthropoid, the assassination attempt and its aftermath were also depicted in the 1975 movie Operation Daybreak starring Timothy Bottoms and Anthony Andrews (also, interesting titbit, the first war film I remember watching).
An exercise of masterful, tension-filled, bullet and bomb-ridden filmmaking
Like myriad films set against the backdrop of the mammoth, devastating event that was World War II, it offers a prime example of the heroism of many individuals battling against the oppression of the Nazi regime, while illustrating in meticulous detail, the efforts that went into planning such operations, the unthinkable dangers faced by the protagonists, and the unspeakable horrors inflicted upon them and hundreds of innocent Czech civilians by the regime in retaliation.
Written by Sean Ellis (who also directs) and Anthony Frewin, the film’s look, with its sepia tones, location shooting in Prague itself, and overall attention to detail provide a spot on evocation of the grim realities of the war era. Yet, while on the one hand Ellis and Frewin’s script also accurately depicts the secret meetings, the planning, the inherent suspicion the players had of one another, and does not shy away from depicting some horrific instances of torture, on the other, the movie sags a little in its mid-point.
The toing and froing and fretting about the plan, the reluctance of some to carry it out, the mixed messages coming from their superiors and the news that Heydrich was planning to leave Prague complicate matters somewhat slowing the action somewhat before its devastating conclusion lifts proceedings up considerably.
The cast overall acquits itself admirably especially the largely unknown supporting ensemble (consisting of many native Czech actors). Although slightly thinly-sketched, Murphy and Dornan convince in the the roles of Gabcik and Kubis. The former is a hardened, determined and patriotic soldier, who will stop at nothing to see the operation succeed. The latter is a more vulnerable, inexperienced fighter. Yet, in Dornan’s portrayal he rises to the occasion in a credible manner.
Toby Jones is exemplary as resistance leader Uncle Hajsky, cool, calm, collected and inspiring in his direction of his people; Jones portrays his fate exceptionally stoically and movingly.
The romantic subplot involving Gabcik and Kubis’s relationships with Lenka (Ana Geislerová) and Marie (Charlotte Le Bon), also resistance members, seems a bit pointless. It was possibly included to add more layers to the characters. Yet, it is wholly unnecessary as by the film’s end there is no doubting their loyalty to the cause and the bravery of their sacrifice.
It is a sacrifice that is depicted with devastating realism and brutality in the final third of the film. This is where Gabcik, Kubis and their fellow plotters are hiding out in a cathedral and succeed – for a while at least – in holding off a bloody siege by hundreds of Nazi soldiers armed to the teeth determined to bring them to their brand of justice.
It is an exercise of tension-filled, bullet and bomb-ridden filmmaking as miraculously the group of seven manage to repel their aggressors for hours. Eventually, the inevitable, tragic conclusion leaves the viewer exhausted and certainly full of admiration at the courage of its protagonists.