A Film on The Nature of Bravery: A Review of the WWII Thriller Anthropoid

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Anthropoid is quite a unique film.

Unique in the way that contours away from any cliché, the way it delves into psychological burdens, and then unique in how beautiful its climactic scene is filmed. I use word unique only because these days it is quite rare to see a properly dramatic film in theaters that doesn’t conform to the current box office dominant genres of escapist cinematic enjoyment, be it, romance, action, animation, or comic books.

Which is why a great many of the reviews I read of Anthropoid upset me. Many if not all reviews will be quick to focus on the pace of Anthropoid. Far too many of the reviews that have been written of the film tend to focus on the same thing, or go for the snappy statement or pun so that their review fits within their trademark brand. These sorts of reviews fail to really justify the quality of acting and of how rarely do we see a story of courage that doesn’t have a happy ending on the big screen.

The film begins right as we find Jan Kubis (Jamie Dornan) in a snowy field searching for his fellow country-men Josef Gabcik right as they have parachuted into Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia in December 1941. Having convened with the exiled government in London, a special team has been sent to the country with the sole mission to set in motion a plot to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, number 3 in command of the Third Reich, known as the Butcher of Prague, and widely considered the architect of the Final Solution. Directed and co-written by Sean Ellis, Anthropoid takes its name directly from this mission, one of the most profoundly impactful moments history fails to teach us. Often the WWII narrative centers around the annexing of Poland, however, as the film makes clear, it is following the Kubis and Gabik’s mission, and the subsequent Nazi retaliation, that Winston Churchill finally renounces the Munich Agreement and paves the way for the Allied entry into the war.

Written by Ellis and co-screenwriter Anthony Frewin, the film offers a unique focus and setting for a time period that has been done many a times before in film. However, while most war films tend to focus on the combat experience, Anthropoid finds its depth in psychological costs of war. As the men frantically plan a way to kill Heydrich, they also begin to come to terms with what happens after the mission is successful. A thought that seems foreign and away but finds itself in the head of Jan. The mental fatigue and the literal loss of life, and it greets us with these realities quickly. The film is unique in that its focus, and to those who thought the build-up was for nothing failed to see it truly encapsulated the movie. In how the resistance fighters understood, or demanded of themselves, to accept that death would be the cowardly and easy alternative.

To resist is to live forever, even if you die.

Rather than offer a refined and popcorn-friendly caper in the guise of Inglorious Basterds, Anthropoid director Sean Ellis instead focuses his film on the moments in-between and after. The film finds its tension in the lead-up planning of the assassination, stamping it with heart-dropping cues. This slow and tensely wound atmosphere builds up to a crescendo and then explodes into one of the most beautifully staged and well filmed, and memorable fire fights in recent memory. Ellis serving here as his own cinematographer and primary camera operator here places his movie beautifully in its time period by choosing to film in many of the mission’s literal locations, not to mention how to keep the audience on edge and orchestrate beautifully choreographed chaos.

Now it’s tough to spoil a movie that’s based on a true story however, Anthropoid challenges us to understand courage in the face of fear, challenges in the face of odds, love in the midst of war, the psychological and physical limits of ourselves, and how that might inevitably conflict with what is often considered courageous. Jamie Dornan and Cillian Murphy are incredible in the lead roles, as they embody with the slightest emotion the contradictions and questions at the heart of heroism. Dornan, who puts on a marvelous performance as Jan, embodies the mind and body paralyzing fear he’s facing, displaying for the audience to see that true courage and bravery isn’t a word or a single moment but a series of moments. A series of reminders to be brave. We all too often in the neatly written history of these moments forget that those considered courageous were simply human, and it was that which made them human that would make them extraordinary. Exemplified beautifully in the film as each character’s panic attack is alleviated by focusing on a simple and redundant task.

Remember your clarity.

For these men, every moment was spent fighting their deepest fears.

Every moment was spent trying to be brave.

A photograph of the real Josef Gabcik and Jan Kubis

Anthropoid is the rare film able to balance humanizing these unknown heroes, a job made easy for Ellis by the work of movie stars like Murphy and Dornan, while simultaneously able to capture the pace of a tightly enclosed fire fight.

It’s a shame that the movie theater no longer particularly offers much in the realm of experimental or unique films these days. Granted, Anthropoid won’t make the same splash at the box office that Suicide Squad has, it offers by far the best, though awfully depressing, film I’ve seen this summer. Anthropoid stays true to its story, from beginning to end, and it’s a welcome feeling to see a director, cast, and film, so dedicated to honestly portraying the material that inspired their work.

“Anthropoid” is out nationwide in the US theaters today, August 12, 2016.

Anthropoid is Rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian) for violence and sexual situations.

Originally published at www.huffingtonpost.com on August 12, 2016.