The assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in June 1942 was one of the most spectacular resistance efforts of World War II. It was also one of the costliest.
The complicated plan to kill this exceptionally brutal Nazi official was “Operation Anthropoid,” designed to destabilize German occupation of Czechoslovakia and also stoke that country’s resistance to the Nazis.
This story is told in “Anthropoid,” a dark and dire account. The movie is a mixed bag, but if you go for the usual elements of the espionage film — parachute landings at night, false papers, cyanide capsules — this one certainly ticks off the boxes.
The leaders of the resistance team are a Slovak, Josef Gabcik (Cillian Murphy), and a Czech, Jan Kubis (Jamie Dornan, redeeming himself for “Fifty Shades of Gray”). Once in Prague, they are taken in by a sympathetic family.
Because two strange men might bring attention, the family’s daughter (Charlotte Le Bon) becomes Jan’s pretend companion. She brings in a friend (the appropriately fierce Anna Gieslerova) to play Josef’s date.
It’s a movie convention that some emotional feeling develops between the men and women. However, the fact that all these decisions could result in death makes the stakes quite high.
That’s one reason the characters argue about the possible repercussions of the assassination, which were in fact devastating: Hitler ordered an entire Czech town destroyed as punishment.
“Anthropoid” is directed by Sean Ellis, who made a dumb movie called “Cashback” a few years ago. His approach is clichéd: the movie is all jiggly handheld camerawork, and dark rooms, and breathless close-ups.
The style grows tiresome. What makes a lot of it work is the cast, led by Murphy (late of the series “Peaky Blinders”), who has a strong, cold demeanor. Unfortunately, the movie betrays his character in one scene where he loses his cool.
There are some remarkable character actors on view. These include the reliable Toby Jones (after this and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” he should appear in all spy pictures).
For a more dynamic version of the story, see Fritz Lang’s intricate 1943 thriller “Hangmen Also Die!” Amazingly, it was shot in Hollywood only a year after the actual events. The timeliness, and the presence of actors and filmmakers driven out of Europe by Hitler, might explain that movie’s ripped-from-the-headlines intensity.
“Anthropoid” (2 stars)
An account of the 1942 plot to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, the brutal Nazi official, in Prague. The movie takes a clichéd approach to the storytelling, but it has a strong cast and all the elements of the spy picture — parachute landings at night, false papers, cyanide capsules. With Cillian Murphy, Jamie Dornan.
Rating: R, for violence
Showing: Meridian, Oak Tree, Sundance
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