I got the DVD for Christmas and finally got to see it. Pretty good, though I wish they'd had more action throughout. I mean, I thought Kubis and Gabcik tried more than once to get Heydrich, like I saw in "Operation Daybreak." Also, I don't think they had time for romance, did they? Kubis had a girlfriend? The ending was pretty accurate I think. I know they went down like it showed. Thoughts?
I saw it a bit ago. I also enjoyed it. I agree that there wasn't much "action", but that appealed to me. It made the ending much more jarring. I'm not sure of any details, but the love interest may have been added,to appease the higher ups. In all, I found it an agreeable film.
I thought it was compelling. I ordered a copy of "Operation Daybreak" (Which I saw years ago) to watch and compare. Will be looking at it in the new year. Anthropoid was very strong. The death of the older woman in the bathroom was an emotional gut-punch.
There is another version that was released in the 60's : "The Sun Also Rises" neither were spectacular and they both trudged through the material. the book, as usual, is much better.
From what I know of the actual events that transpired, the ending in Anthropoid was truer to real-life than Operation Daybreak (tho it has been quite a while since I have seen Daybreak). I found the ending in Anthropoid to be very well researched and portrayed. However, I also question weather the romance sub-plot was historical or not. I have no idea. All in all, I found the movie to be a well-done, pretty accurate portrayal of the events. Enjoyable film
If you google the two female characters you'll learn that it is said that Kovarnikova was "close" to Kubis and that Favkova was "close" to Gabcik. The two women were both shot on 24 October, 1942, in Mauthausen. I think in 1942 terms, "close' was likely a polite way of saying they were lovers, or assuming such was the case. Of course, also in 1942, whether or not they were sleeping together was not something they would talk about, so you are only going on the observations of those acquaintances that survived. It isn't like today where you'd discuss this with friends who would actually know. You'd keep it quiet. According to this link, some of the most gruesome moments (like showing Moravec his mother's head) are actually quite true. http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/anthropoid/
Films about Heydrich's assassination Anthropoid Atentát Hangmen Also Die! Hitler's Madman a.k.a. Hitler's Hangman Muzi bez krídel *) Operace Silver A *) Operation Daybreak Opus Pro Smrtihlava *) Sokolovo *) Missing in my WWII film collection.
I thought the subject matter and story was interesting, but I thought the film was somewhat lacking. I really, REALLY, disliked the time-lapse in the movie. They go from arriving to having been there for a very long in what seems like an overnight transition. The whole elapsed time thing really threw me off in the movie as there was no sense of the passage of time. For instance, with their lovers...it was like they had just arrived and then the next day they're getting married.
Although I enjoyed the movie very much, I agree with that take. It didn't, IMO, take away from the film but it did seem that they needed a quick side story to develop the characters.
Next year you will be able to add "HHhH" to the list. (stupid title by the way, I hope they change it)
Well, the title has already been changed to 'The Man with the Iron Heart'. I suppose the previous one was just a preliminary working title.