Review of The Man with the Iron Heart (2017) by Wayne K — 09 Nov 2017

A fairly interesting, fairly entertaining biopic of a man so cold and compassionless that Hitler himself thought he was a nasty piece of work, The Man With The Iron Heart was at its most insightful and compelling in the first half, when we get to see Heydrich rise through the ranks and carry out all his evil assignments, as well as witnessing the strain his activities placed on his family life.

Despite the fact that no one is speaking German, and only some of the characters attempt a German accent, there's a strong authenticity to the proceedings, with realistic looking costumes, grim, dark landscapes and barren, war-battered villages.

In the second half it shifts its focus from Heydrich himself to the people who tried to assassinate him. This is where the film flounders, as this storyline isn't anywhere near as involving as what came before, and the fact that there's a pointless flashforward that shows exactly what is going to happens ruins any tension or anticipation, since we've just been explicitly shown how events are going to play out.

Heydrich comes back later on, as if the filmmakers realised that he's the title character, and probably should have a bit more screen time. The cast turn in good performances, and the more harrowing scenes are shot without compromise, but if we had spent more time with the Iron Hearted one, there could have so much more to discover.