Anthropoid – Film Review by Frank L.

Directed by Sean Ellis
Writers: Sean Ellis, Anthony Frewin
Stars: Jamie Dornan, Cillian Murphy, Brian Caspe

Director Sean Ellis has co-written the script of this historical drama with Anthony Frewen. It is based on the facts surrounding the plot by the Czech government in exile to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich in Prague, in the summer of 1942. He had been appointed by Hitler in September 1941 as acting Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. Goebbels had described him in his diary as the “most radical and most successful persecutor of all enemies of the state.” These enemies included the Jews, as he had already been the chief architect of the Final Solution which had come into existence in January 1942 at the Wannsee Conference.

The film begins with Josef Gabčík (Cillian Murphy) and Jan Kubiš (Jamie Dornan) as two expatriate members of the Czech army in exile, parachuting into a wood about 30 kilometres from Prague. It is a city living in fear of Heydrich’s regime with its resistance movement in tatters having been disembodied by Heydrich’s successful infiltration of it. However they make contact with the remnants and a safe house is found for them in Prague as they try to work out how they can breach Heydrich’s security. What is worthwhile in this part of the story is the dissension within the resistance to the emerging plot because of the fear of what the consequences will be for the Czech citizenry. Not so satisfactory are the two love stories which emerge and take up quite a bit of time on the screen. They do not greatly assist the film other than assuring the viewer that Gabčík and Kubiš were heterosexuals of conventional inclinations.

The second part of the film is the attempted assassination of Heydrich and its immediate aftermath. The film portrays quite a deal of chaos and uncertainty as to the result of the attack which is probably a good reflection of the reality given the audacity of what was being attempted. The third part of the film is in many ways the most gripping as the Nazi killing machine affronted by what has happened to Heydrich seeks blood curdling revenge. Their use of bribery and torture, which even in their rage is focussed, does yield, with time, information. The end in a fine baroque church is bloody and fast moving.

Operation Anthropoid was an audacious plot. It required of its perpetrators bravery and selflessness of a high degree. The strength of the film lies in the depiction of the weaknesses displayed by the characters including the two heroes as well as their strengths. Ellis manages to outline some of the dilemmas and conflicts which those involved in the attempt to take out Heydrich faced in trying to bring it to fruition. It is therefore more nuanced than many films which seek to depict acts of defiance against Nazi occupation in the Second World War.