Anthropoid (2016)
Starring: Jamie Dornan, Cillian Murphy, Toby Jones, Alena
Mihulova, Charlotte Le Bon, Anna Geislerova, Bill Milner, Marcin Dorocinski, Sam
Keeley
Directed by: Sean Ellis
My Review and Thoughts:
The word Anthropoid is a Greek word meaning: “having the form of a human.”
Truly a touching, emotional, movie that leaves the viewer
drained.
Any war is an emotional reality. WW2 and the Holocaust and
the destruction, control and mass murder of innocent people is all the more
draining and emotional. There are countless stories that have been told, and
some that never will be told about the horrible time ruled by Nazi Germany, and
all those who followed, participated, and caused the true horrors and nightmares
of hell, to become a true reality here on earth.
There are so many heroes spoken
about during WW2, but there are those who are over looked. The two men and the group
this film depicts are in my viewpoint some of the bravest, most daring human
beings to ever exist. To fight against control, murder, genocide, no matter if
it cost you your life, it is the right thing to do, in my viewpoint the only
thing to do. For once you turn a blind eye, you are no better than those
causing the suffering. That gets me to my point. The depiction of these hero’s
in Anthropoid is a flawless beauty of a film. Both emotional, and most of all, I was drained of all my emotional senses as the film concluded.
First off I have to talk about the amazing, wondering acting
by all those involved. The very handsome, sexy and extraordinary Jamie Dornan, plays the main character of Jan Kubis. His talent for both reality based
understanding of creating a believable character, and owning that character to
the point, he brings that character to life in vivid, emotional detail, that causes
the viewer to feel the plight of this young man, in which he sacrificed everything in real life. Dornan is
a rising star of talent that I can see becoming huge in the movie world as long
as he captures human characters in flawless ways, such as he did in Anthropoid.
An amazing emotional performance that I attached to, felt for, understood and
focused on. Brilliant performance.
Next I have to mention the whole cast. The phenomenal
Cillian Murphy as Josef Gabcik. I have followed Murphy's career for many years
now, and his talent just grows beyond mere words being written can’t express his
raw, natural talent. Murphy truly comes to life in this emotional part. He and
Dornan play off each other is striking detail, and spot on characterization.
They worked together flawlessly in this film. The amazing Toby Jones as Uncle
Hajsky. Jones I am a huge fan of, and I have never been disappointed with any of his characters. To me he is a top notch actor over looked and underappreciated. The
three, strong and very beautiful and stunning female performances by Anna
Geislerova, Charlotte Le Bon and Alena Mihulova is all breathtaking. Each one
created three, strong, amazing, brave characters. Alena Mihulova truly stood
out in a passionate and ultimate heartbreaking performance. Sam Keeley’s small
part, yet emotionally draining part, was equally brilliant. Keeley is another
one of those actors I have been keeping my eye on, because his raw natural talent
shines on screen.
And now I have to mention the young actor of the group who I
have watched for many years grow up in film, and his talent and parts grow
stronger and stronger. I have to mention Bill Milner. Milner is a fantastic performer
that has the beauty and ability to create his character in a raw nerve and
sensual understanding of the part. His performance of At’a in Anthropoid is
both delightful and utterly mind numbing in its ultimate disturbing conclusion.
The whole cast and crew I could go on and on about, speaking of how each one
truly came to life on screen and made you believe.
This is the 4th film by new director Sean Ellis.
Ellis is what I consider a rising future master of cinema history. His film
Metro Manila (2013) and Cashback (2006) are both must see pieces of cinema. He
has away with telling a story and capturing that story so that it comes to life
in a beating heart on screen. Anthropoid is no different. Anthropoid is a film
that is award worthy and should be expressed and spoken about in movie circles, and in history circles.
This historical thriller grabs a hold of the viewer and
never let’s go. Even after the credits, and days later after seeing it. It’s on
my mind. It’s lingering there through performances, actions, heartbreaking
insanity. Besides the acting and direction, my personal favorite to the film is
the building up of the characters. The slow burn mentality of the start of the
film, showcases the brilliance of a great storyteller. He is letting you grow
with each performer. He is creating an emotional bond, an understanding of that
character. He is making you apart of the situation. So many movie's this day and
age lack that mentality to build up characters. You have to build up the characters so that when something happens,
you feel for them, your emotionally drained. Anthropoid is that style of film.
The movie slowly builds character, situation and ultimate dramatic conclusion.
There is a complete story. There is a complete understanding of each character.
The plot to the film is about Operation Anthropoid. This was
code word for the assassination of one of the vilest and evilest men of Nazi
Germany. Reinhard Heydrich who needed and had to be taken out. He was a
death dealer, a genocide mass murderer of unbelievable atrocities. He put in
place countless deaths and the only way to stop him was to assassinate him. The
movie depicts the planning and over all ordeal it took to create this complex
and heroic reality. The movie showcases Jan Kubis and Jozef Gabcik and everyone
involved in the amazing resistance to the human who had became a monster. They
stood up, made a statement and sacrificed everything for the right and truthful
thing to do.
The music by Guy Farley and Robin Foster is also something
that makes this film stand out. There are moments where the intensity of the
music adds to the dramatic or tense filled reality. Both Farley and Foster shinned
in this department. Also I have to mention that the director Sean Ellis not
only directed, produced, co-wrote, but also did the wonderful and amazing
cinematography that shines in this film. I think that is what stands out the
most to me about this film. The whole movie comes together and left this movie
lover, movie fiend, utterly satisfied.
This is a film I highly recommended for lovers of great
cinema. Flawless acting. Amazing sets, costumes, actions that all come together
to create a film to be remembered and expressed. Starring a multitalented group
of performers that gave there all to the parts and honored those fallen.