Review of Anthropoid (2016) by Rameshwar I — 03 Jan 2017

It is a testimony to a collective failure of humanity in the modern world especially considering the volume of massacre and the reach of Nazi Germany. At the same time, it is also a phenomenal display of hope and extraordinary courage through actions of certain individuals while staring down at an impending ruthless torture and certain death. Though the oppressions of Nazi rule against Jews is well documented (even though it is never enough), their brutality against Czhechs is never highlighted as it could have been. This movie intends to change that with a crash course on history engulfed around a thrilling main plot to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, the architect behind the Final Solution.

Jan Kubis (Jamie Dornan) and Josef Gabcík (Cillian Murphy) are sent by the Czech government-in-exile to assasinate Nazi Germany 3rd-in-command SS Officer Reinhard Heydrich, which is code named Operation Anthropoid. They take refuge in Moravec's residence, a family of Czech resistance sympathizers from where they do the recce of Heydrich's movements. While the local resistence group led by Uncle Hajský (Toby Jones) and Ladislav Vanék (Marcin Dorocinski) does support them even with their internal varying opinions about the impact and consequence, the day to execute the operation gets preponed due to an intel about recall of Heydrich back to Berlin. Are they ready to go through with the operation?

A retelling of such a historically prominent story requires the right perspective, right tone and also should capture the emotions right to strike a chord with the audience. Anthropoid starts in the right direction with utmost sincerity but seems to have faltered somewhere in between that I can't quite place. Though featuring a large ensemble cast with only a few relatively known faces does help with its narrative to let the audience just see the characters. The production values and art direction are solid which brings the period to life with attention to detail and with a helping of setting up most scenes in the interiors. Instead of being a deviation, the romantic subplots acts as a window to the assassin's emotional state of mind. There are some moments which are not for everyone, especially the torture sequence of Ata, the 17 year old son of Mrs. Moravec which is gritty and impactful.

While it is a solidly made historical action thriller, a critical view does bring forth some aspects which could have been better. The climax showdown shows the highly trained fully equipped German soldiers going down like ninepins when confronted by the Czech resistance with just their pistols and submachine guns. The entire narrative when looking at it in retrospect does pan out sentence by sentence from Wikipedia, a little non-linear approach in terms of script could have elevated it a bit. A standard Hollywood gimmick to establish hope before curtailing it comes to the fore when the escape route from the church to the sewers was discovered, or when Ladislav finalizes the coffins under which he plans to smuggle the refuges out of the church. These events possibly might not have happened and does stuck out like a sore thumb. But you never know, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

A well-crafted historical action thriller that brings forward a tragically prominent story with high emotional resonance.