Operation Anthropoid

After months of slogging through big-budget, special effects studio films that were just "fine" all summer, I've finally encountered a hidden gem that is well worth watching.

ANTHROPOID is a World War II film starring Cillian Murphy that tells the true tale of a group of Czech resistance fighters on a mission (Codenamed ANTHROPOID) to assassinate Nazi SS General Reinhard Heydrich, the "Butcher of Prague".

Director and writer Sean Ellis (The Proposal) really breaks through in this taught thriller that is part drama, part thriller and part action movie. Ellis creates a group of real people (the drama part of the film) with real relationships operating undercover in a very dangerous situation (the thriller part) in order to carry out orders to assassinate the #3 in command of the German hierarchy (the action part).

Some will find the first hour of the movie a bit slow as Ellis builds up his characters and their relationships. This turns out to be an important slow burn build-up and really pays off as the action starts heating up the screen and you are really invested in what happens to these people.

The acting is top-notch starting with Murphy, who I looked at in this movie and wondered why he isn't a bigger star. As Mission Leader Josef Gabcik, he is strongly focused on the mission only to find out the real human consequences of his actions along the way. He is ably assisted by Jamie Dornan (who proves there is a real actor underneath the 50 Shades of Gray) as his partner who needs to find the courage to go through with the mission and the always reliable Toby Jones as the head of the Czech underground. These 3 known (at least to me) stars are joined by strong European actors/actresses, most notably Marcin Dorocinski (as a reluctant Resistance fighter), Alena Mihulava (as the woman who hides the resistance fighters), and Harry Lloyd (the ranking Czech officer). Most impressive to me is the work of Czech actress Anna Geislerova (as another resistance fighter). I could not take my eyes off of her when she was on the screen, so had to look her up. She has over 100 credits, none of which is widely known to US audiences (mostly Czech films). I would love to see her do other things.

The acting is good, the script/drama is tight and the action (once it is started) is terrific, showing just enough that you know where everyone is in relation to the others, what they are doing and what peril they are in. Director Ellis avoids going "overboard" and the action is all the better for it. The big studios could learn a thing or two about "less is more" from this film.

I really enjoyed this one - it was a welcome break from the onslaught of special effects that has become the norm in the summer - and I STRONGLY recommend it to you.

A strong 8 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (of Marquis)

"Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once." Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

If you delight in the fantasy violence of summer blockbusters, you will lose any romantic notions about it when you see the real deal in Anthropoid, a based-on-actual-events biography about seven WWII resistance fighters who parachute into Nazi-held Czechoslovakia. Their job: assassinate the third highest ranking officer of the Reich, Reinhard Heydrich (Detlef Bothe), the Butcher of Prague.

As in all dictatorships, never a safe moment exists, and writer-director Sean Ellis, along with writer Anthony Frewin, emphasizes both the bravery of the fighters and the brutality of the Nazis in a quagmire of deceit and fear. No sympathy for any of occupiers but much to admire in the freedom fighters, the best examples of the "valiant" Caesar mentions in the above quote.

The two lead fighters, Jan (Jamie Dornan) and Josef (Cillian Murphy), crystallize the film's impressive depiction of understated bravery and humanity: Both take life-threatening chances -- Jan has realistic moments of cowardice and bravery while Josef is steadfast. Both fall in love in mature circumstances that brook little romance.

If there are any faults in Anthropoid, one would be the overly-long fight scene in the church hideout. After a few minutes, one can get the idea of the mayhem that lasted in reality about 6 hours. However, this scene certainly shows the valor of the fighters against the relentless Nazi machine.

In the end, Anthropoid is the story of heroism crucified by almost unstoppable, and certainly unfathomable, evil. Although we are buoyed up by any resistance victory, that joy is seriously tempered by the triumph of the enemy's will.

As the title suggests, subhuman Nazi anthropoids rule the landscape: in one instance, they bring in the severed head of a resistance sympathizer to torture her son. Yet, real loving, hurting humans try to survive the horror. Anthropoid makes Planet of the Apes look like The Sound of Music.

After Army of Shadows, Anthropoid ranks as one of the best resistance stories in film history.

"Satan understands the power of men and women united in righteousness." Sheri L. Dew

It was amazing how this true story has been told in each detail. This is a great work and respect to all the staff. All the actors delivered solid performance and I want to see them again all in other films. It was never boring and i know now better what really happened at this very important assault to a high Nazi leader. The setting and atmosphere were perfectly created. God bless all the opponents who lost their lives. Don't miss it if you like war history. 8/10

Not familiar with Sean Ellis' work but his catalogue looks very original like Cashback, Metro Manila and the Broken; all films I now want to see. His latest, written and directed by himself, is the true story during WWII in 1942, Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of SS General Reinhard Heydrich, Hilter's third in command and main architect of the Final Solution, better know as the Butcher of Prague, or the Blonde Beast and the Hangman.

We follow Slovak soldier, Jozef Gabčík played brilliantly by Cillian Murphy and his partner, Czech soldier Jan Kubiš also played superbly by Jamie Dorman as they infiltrate Prague and proceed in setting up an action plan. We see the emotional struggle between the two comrades and fellow resistance, as priorities and understanding of what is to come, changes.

Toby Jones, who happens to get into everything recently, plays supportive uncle Hajskŷ and I recognise Charlotte Le Bon from this year's Bastille Day. And I think the only native to act here is Czech model Anna Geislerová who looks a little like Joan Allen and Amber Valletta. Both the ladies playing the agent's counterparts to enforce their cover who eventually form an emotional bond.

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 gruelling 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 movie 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. Robin Foster managed to add suspense and silence was best suited for some of the more dramatic scenes.

A classic war movie that's tense, tough and gory both physically and emotionally. A superb tribute to the Czech resistance and those that died during this time. Interestingly, Cédric Jimenez is currently directing HHhH, based on the very same story that's due out next year. I wonder how that will compare.

Running Time: 7 The Cast: 7 Performance: 9 Direction: 9 Story: 9 Script: 8 Creativity: 10 Soundtrack: 7 Job Description: 9 The ExtraBonus Points: 10 for being accurate to what stories have been told, paying a great tribute to those who were lost during this time.

85% 9/10

On 27 May 1942, at a tight street corner in Prague, two resistance parachutists - the Czech Jan Kubiš and the Slovak Jozef Gabčík stopped an open top car carrying the Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich with the intention of carrying out the most high profile assassination of the Second World War. The consequences - both personal and political - were enormous. Kubiš and Gabčík, together with five other parachutists, eventually found refuge in an orthodox church near the city centre, but they were betrayed by one of the other parachutists and all died in the shoot-out with the SS.

My strong interest in the assassination is because it took place at the height of the wartime exploits of my Czech night fighter pilot father-in-law, so that I included a couple of paragraphs about it in my biography of him, and the church in which the assassins Kubiš and Gabčík died is literally at the end of the street in which my closest Czech friends live, so that I have visited it several times.

The year after the assassination which made massive world news, Hollywood rushed out two films - "Hangmen Also Die" and "Hitler's Madman" - which gave highly fictionalised accounts of the event and its aftermath. In 1964, there was a Czech film called "Atentát" (released under the English title "The Assassination"). "Operation: Daybreak" - released in 1975 - was a British portrayal of events which was shot on location (in what was then communist Czechoslovakia) and gave an essentially accurate narrative with some fictionalised embellishments.

So "Anthropoid" (2016) - the code name for the operation - is the fifth work to bring these events to the big screen and again this is a British-inspired work shot on location (in what is now the democratic Czech Republic).

Britain's Sean Ellis is director and cinematographer as well as co-writer and he has produced an accomplished work which is even more faithful to the facts and makes even more use of original locations than "Operation: Daybreak". Also dialogue and acting are both better than the previous film. Cillian Murphy is particularly good as Jozef Gabčík who is shown as the leading personality (in "Operation: Daybreak", Jan Kubiš - played this time by Jamie Dorman - was represented as leading the team). Another change is that the parachutists are shown as more human, given to bouts of doubt and fear.

The 1975 and 2016 films follow a very similar narrative arc, beginning with the jump by Kubiš and Gabčík and ending with their death, so that the actual assassination attempt is the hinge for the two very different segments tonally: the tense preparation and the ferocious aftermath. However, one difference is that the target of the assassination Reinhard Heydrich - who was a major character in "Operation"Daybreak" - in this latest film only appears in order to be attacked and has no dialogue at all. Also the new production opens and closes with some explanatory text that usefully underlines why this piece of history deserves to be remembered. Finally this is much more of Czech work with even greater use of Czech actors and technical talent.

Anna Geislerová - who plays Gabčík's girlfriend Lenka - is a major star in the Czech Republic. I could have done without the imaginary appearance of Lenka in the final moments but, that aside, the conclusion of "Anthropoid" packs a powerfully emotive punch. Indeed this is a film that lingers long in the memory and some of these memories are profoundly disturbing, but the viewer needs to be aware that even the torture scene of the young Ata Moravec actually happened.