Anthropoid

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Sean Ellis/Starring: Cillian Murphy, Jamie Dornan, Charlotte Le Bon, Toby Jones, Anna Geislerova, Alena Mihulova, Bill Milner, and Pavel Reznicek

I feel I've seen films like director Sean Ellis' Anthropoid told many times before; which details the Czech underground's efforts to assassinate Nazi Chief of Police and Reich-Protector for Bohemia and Moravia; Reinhard Heydrich; also known as The Butcher of Prague. While watching Ellis's film, I was reminded of Brian Singer's Valkyrie, which depicted the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Though Ellis' film is the superior, it somehow fails to be the nail-biting thriller we hope it to be. I have no quibbles with the fine performances or the story, but it the film registers more as a pretty decent thriller rather than a gripping drama. But as decent thrillers go, Ellis' film is a worthwhile distraction; one that won't insult your intelligence.

The movie gets down to business quickly as two Czech patriots on a mission from London parachute into their home country. After finding temporary shelter in the home of a countryman, the two men; Josef Gabcik (Cillian Murphy) and Jan Kubis (Jamie Dornan; on a more interesting acting assignment than 50 Shades of Grey) become suspicious of their benefactor; quickly discovering their hosts are sympathetic to the Nazi occupiers. After dispatching their their betrayers, Josef and Jan find their way to Prague, where they make contact with an underground cell. They explain to their collaborators their allied-mandated mission; code-named Anthropoid, to assassinate Chief of Police Reinhard Heydrich; the presiding power in Prague and an elite officer in the Nazi regime. Their disclosure is met with gasping disbelief, as the other members naturally question the soundness of the plan; citing the likely possibility of vicious Nazi reprisals. But the imperatives of the allied command outweigh the objections of the Czech underground, which clears the way for the operation's execution.

In plotting Heydrich's assassination, Josef, Jan and the underground members understand getting to the Nazi officer will be tricky, considering his home and his headquarters are both heavily guarded. But in monitoring Heydrich's comings and goings, the resistance learns of a routine route the officer follows through the city and sets about planning an ambush.

While making plans, the group experiences some hair-raising moments. During a backroom meeting in a local shop, German soldiers enter and begin searching the premises. Only a noisy distraction made by a beautiful underground operative named Lenka (Anna Geislerova) saves them from discovery.

As preparations are made for the operation, Josef and Jan find their presence in Prague complicated by Lenka and her equally attractive friend, Marie (Charlotte Le Bon). While Jan and Marie fall in love, Josef and Lenka form an attachment. If the relationships don't jeopardize the mission, they also don't help.

Josef and Jan's mission endangers a great many people, including a family; husband and father Mr. Moravec (Pavel Reznicek), his wife (Elena Mihulova) and violin-playing son At'a (Bill Milner), who allow their home to be a base of operations. Another family member; Uncle Hajsky (Toby Jones) helps plan the mission. It is Hajsky who provides all the members of the mission cyanide capsules in the event of capture. The capsules take on a greater significance later in the film.

The assassination itself, which entails stopping Heydrich's car on a strategic street corner, carries the added danger of an armored car escort whose appearance is unpredictable. The mission is set in motion anyway, though not without serious mishaps. When Heydrich's chauffeured vehicle is obstructed, Josef steps out in front of the car, points his machine gun at the officer and pulls the trigger, only to find the gun isn't loaded. When Heydrich draws a pistol and returns fire, Jan throws a bomb at the car which explodes, injuring both the target and the driver. Josef and Jan manage to escape, thinking the mission failed. But a shot of a blood-stained hole in the vehicle tells otherwise. Meanwhile, Josef angrily confronts another conspirator named Karel (Jiri Simek), who purposely avoided loading the machine gun meant to kill Heydrich. Karel offers a bewildering explanation for his action, which Josef is forced to accept.
Soon the group learns Heydrich died from his wounds, which sets in motion the violent reprisals the plotters feared.

As the German army begins executing citizens in their search for the assassins, they also offer a sizeable reward for information leading to an arrest. Hoping to quell the mass murder of his people, Karel comes forward to offer information. Jan and Josef find refuge in a church whose priest is sympathetic to the underground's cause. In the church's underground cellar, Jan and Josef meet other parachutists involved in the resistance. They quickly form a scheduled guard-watch in the church proper while those not on duty remain below, out of sight.

The resistance group in the church are able to hide until Karel's information leads soldiers to the Moravec home, where At'a is captured and led away. In another harrowing scene, Hajsky, facing certain capture, fumbles his cyanide capsule and quickly tries to recover it before the German soldiers break down his door.

The cathedral hide-out is soon discovered after At'a is brutally tortured. The film's grim but thrilling conclusion takes place at the cathedral, as the resistance members dig in to fight a hopeless battle against the German army, who resort to every means to kill their prey. We learn in the end subtitles the resistance members held off the German army for a heroic six hours.

Ellis certainly knows how to craft a thriller but though the story itself is compelling and of historic import, it fails to completely convey the excitement of the operation. It isn't enough to make a movie about a plot to kill a Nazi; an intriguing premise such as Ellis' film requires a sustained feeling of dread; an element unevenly supplied. His story kept me engaged but not at the edge of my seat.

The plot and the assassination itself were very courageous, as was the battle inside the cathedral. The plotters fought on, knowing the fight was futile. The film does give us a sense of the plotter's tremendous sacrifice; accomplished in the face of personal peril. The decision to kill Heydrich also carried the threat of retribution. Knowing many of their countrymen would die, the act carried with it a deadly, moral calculus.

I watched the film with great interest but didn't leave the theater feeling shaken or in a sated daze. One would like to suggest the film Anthropoid to friends but I found myself falling back on my least enthusiastic response; "well, I liked it, but I didn't love it." Faint praise indeed.

Ellis's film will enjoy a more robust life on streaming in a month or two. It's feeble distribution certainly doesn't help its cause. Maybe it'll play better on a smaller screen. It's a story worth telling but one I wished had been told better.