2016-08-27

Anthropoid is based on the extraordinary true story of “Operation Anthropoid,” the code name for the Czechoslovakian operatives’ mission to assassinate SS officer Reinhard Heydrich. Heydrich, the main architect behind the Final Solution, was the Reich’s third in command behind Hitler and Himmler and the leader of Nazi forces in Czechoslovakia.

The film follows two soldiers from the Czechoslovakian army-in-exile, Josef Gabčík (Cillian Murphy) and Jan Kubiš (Jamie Dornan), who are parachuted into their occupied homeland in December 1941. With limited intelligence and little equipment in a city under lockdown, they must find a way to assassinate Heydrich, an operation that would change the face of Europe forever.

A story of wartime heroism, Anthropoid fulfils a long-held dream for filmmaker Sean Ellis. The writer-director-cinematographer first learned about the little-known chapter of history in 2001 when he saw a documentary about the assassination of brutal SS General Reinhard Heydrich. “I’ve always been interested in everything having to do with World War II so I was astounded that I had never come across this moving story before,” recalls Ellis. Immersing himself in research, he spent years assembling an archive of photographs and other historical materials to understand the details and context surrounding “Operation Anthropoid.”

Act of Heroism

In 1939 Western Allies signed the Munich Agreement, an infamous act of appeasement that allowed Hitler’s Germany to occupy northern territories of neighboring Czechoslovakia. After wresting control of industry in this area, inhabited primarily by ethnic German speakers, Hitler and his troops soon took over the entire country, ensuring that Czechoslovakia would remain, in effect, a prison camp for the duration of World War II.

By late 1941 SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, outranked in the Third Reich only by Hitler and Himmler, oversaw the occupying forces in Czechoslovakia. Nicknamed “The Butcher of Prague,” Heydrich crushed any attempt at opposition and forced Czechoslovakian factories to produce military material for the Reich.  Pressured by the British government to strike a blow for the Allies, Czechoslovakia’s government-in-exile, led by President Edvard Beneš, authorized the “Anthropoid” plan to kill Heydrich.

England’s Special Operations Executive trained Czech soldiers as paratrooper-assassins, who carried out the mission on May 27, 1942. Heydrich, a key architect of the Holocaust, died from his wounds one week later on June 4, ultimately becoming the highest-ranking Nazi assassinated during the war.  The Reich exacted brutal reprisals for the attack, including the execution of 5,000 Czechoslovak civilians. The bloodshed prompted Winston Churchill to nullify the Munich Agreement, paving the way for the Allies’ declaration of war against Germany.  “If you follow the history from the Munich Agreement all the way to the assassination and through the aftermath, it’s an incredibly complex and overwhelming story,” says Ellis, who recruited Color Me Kubrick writer Anthony Frewin to flesh out the movie’s core story points. “It took me a while to figure that I didn’t want to make a blockbuster war epic, but instead focus on the story of two parachutists. I wanted to explore what it would be like to be Jan Kubiš and Josef Gabčík, to know what it would have felt like to be part of the ultimate act of resistance.”

Ellis and Frewins’ screenplay captivated producers Mickey Liddell and Pete Shilaimon of LD Entertainment, whose numerous productions have included Risen, In Secret and the upcoming biopic Jackie, starring Natalie Portman. “These are true heroes,” says Liddell. “They gave their life to a cause that was much bigger than them, at a time when it could have gone very dark and things could have been very different. We’ve seen a lot of World War II stories, and there are so many amazing ones to be told, but from page one when these characters parachuted in, I was hooked. It was fantastic writing.” “It’s very rare that a script comes across my desk that I can’t put down,” adds Shilaimon. “Not only did it make me want to learn more about World War II, but also how big a role Prague and Czechoslovakia played in the war.” Ellis previously showcased his ability to create onscreen emotional tension with the crime drama Metro Manila, which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013. Riding the wave of acclaim, he began actively pursuing getting Anthropoid made. “The sacrifice that Jan Kubiš and Josef Gabčík made for their country was similar in theme to what I had explored in Metro Manila, but on much a larger scale,” says the director. “So Anthropoid seemed like the obvious next film to put into production.” Even after spending a decade and a half preparing Anthropoid for the big screen, Ellis continues to find inspiration in its real-life characters. “It has been a humbling experience to tell the story of these brave men and women of the Czechoslovakian resistance, who sacrificed themselves for the freedom of their country.”

Casting Heroes

To bring the heroes of “Operation Anthropoid” to life, Ellis cast Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan in the lead roles of resistance fighters Josef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš. “I could not be happier with what Jamie and Cillian accomplished,” says the director. “As Jan, Jamie does a masterful job of exuding rash vulnerability under intense pressure. Cillian found brilliant ways to manifest confidence and a cold-hearted determination that also masked a kind of moral anxiety that Josef seemed to experience.” Murphy, a Golden Globe nominee known for such features as Inception and Batman Begins as well as the BBC2/Netflix series “Peaky Blinders,” remembers tearing through the Anthropoid screenplay in a single sitting after watching Ellis’ previous feature. “Metro Manila knocked me out,” says the actor. “And then I read the Anthropoid script. If something’s that good a read on the page, it’s just going to get better and better.” Murphy’s intense and precise characterization of Josef, along with his easy rapport with his cast mates, helped raise the level of everyone’s performances, according to Shilaimon. “As a producer, when you have an actor who is available to talk to anybody and is so incredible in his craft, you just feel safe. Anytime Cillian was on, you knew the scene was going to play out incredibly well, and you knew the actors around him were going to step up.” For Dornan, Anthropoid represents a significant departure from his recent turns as Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey and Paul Spector in the BBC2/Netflix series “The Fall.” “I was blown away by the story,” says Dornan, who first learned about “Operation Anthropoid” when he read the screenplay. “It’s fascinating that something of this magnitude could exist and yet people do not know about it.”  Before shooting began, Murphy and Dornan spent months researching the assassination they would dramatize on screen. “Sean gave me and Cillian this book called Operation Anthropoid which gives a blow-by-blow account of every detail of the mission,” Dornan says. “That became our bible.” Additionally the actors trained with a Czech group devoted to World War II re-enactments and the weaponry of the early 1940s. “These guys showed us how to load the gun, how to stand,” Murphy recalls. “We went to a real shooting range and fired live rounds. That’s when you realize how hard it is to handle these weapons.” Once filming began, Dornan and Murphy forged a tight bond with director Ellis. “It felt very much like me and Sean and Jamie were making the film together,” Murphy says. “The atmosphere Sean creates on and off set is very familial and that feeling gets transferred onto the performances.” The fact that Ellis also served as cinematographer made the vibe on set even more intimate, adds Murphy. “Anthropoid is the first time I’ve had a director behind the lens with a handheld on his shoulder. Never in my career have I had a director who went so far in spelling out visually how he wanted major scenes to play out. For me, it was reassuring to know that every single shot was worked out and Sean knew exactly where you needed to be.” Along with the physical and emotional demands of their roles, the actors had to master Czechoslovakian accents. Ellis decided to have the Nazi soldiers speak German to emphasize the fact that they are a foreign occupying army, while the resistance fighters speak Czechoslovak-tinged English.  “I was terrified at first by the idea of doing a Czech accent,” adds Dornan. “Unlike Russian, which you can really hang your hat on because it’s a stronger and more definitive accent, Czech is quite subtle really.”

Toby Jones

Rounding Out the Resistance British character actor Toby Jones, renowned for his eccentric charm in movies ranging from Captain America to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as well as his Emmy-nominated performance as director Alfred Hitchcock in “The Girl,” signed on to play senior resistance fighter Uncle Hajský.

“Toby Jones is simply one of the best actors the UK has to offer,” says Ellis. “His approach and commitment to the role was very important to the film because Uncle Hajský becomes the moral compass of the group.” To play Jan’s sweetly courageous love interest, Maria, the director cast Charlotte Le Bon, the French-Canadian actress whose recent credits include The Hundred-Foot Journey and The Walk. “Charlotte’s one of the most sought-after actresses in Europe currently and I could not have asked for a more detailed and nuanced portrait of this girl who falls in love with a man she knows will probably die,” Ellis says. “The contrasting relationships between Jan and Josef and their girlfriends form the emotional spine of the story. They reveal the different ways these men deal with the prospect of their own deaths.”    “There’s something very naive about Marie,” Le Bon says. “She’s trying to be light about everything even though the occupation is very heavy, and I think that’s what Jan sees in her.” Czech actress Anna Geislerová, who plays world-weary resistance fighter Lenka, appreciated Ellis’ intensity as a director. “When I met Sean, I asked him ‘how do you work?’ and he said, ‘I talk a lot, we do a lot of takes, and we keep shooting,’” recalls Geislerová, winner of the Czech Lion for her performance in Želary, the 2003 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. The Anthropoid screenplay resonated strongly with the Czech actress. “I liked the script so much I didn’t even ask who else was going to be in the movie,” she says. “There’s one scene where Cillian says, ‘You have to take a side,’ and for me, that’s the subject of the movie: you have to live according to your beliefs and your values.” Many of the film’s supporting roles were filled by Czech actors as well. These include resistance leader Ladislav Vanek, played by Marcin Dorociński, and Josef and Jan’s fellow paratroopers Josef Valčík and Karel Čurda, played by Václav Neužil and Jiří Šimek, respectively. “Casting so many Czechs in the movie really helped the film’s sense of authenticity,” says Shilaimon. “I think a lot of our British actors took accent cues from their Czech counterparts.”

Recreating 1940s Prague Anthropoid shot for 39 days in Prague, Czech Republic, beginning in July 2015. “I wanted to honor the soldiers and give the film the authenticity the story deserved,” Ellis says. “Prague has changed much in recent years, but many parts of the city center are just like they were during the war. We were able to film some scenes exactly where they actually took place over 70 years ago.” Collaborating with many Czech actors and a largely Czech crew, Ellis enjoyed support from the city’s residents as well. “The Czech people in general were so supportive of Anthropoid,” he says. “Even though it’s in English, I really wanted them to feel like they could embrace this film.

As the film’s director of photography as well as its co-writer and director, Ellis carefully evaluated lighting and color scale to recreate the mood of the Czechoslovakian capital during the early 1940s. He also insisted on shooting Anthropoid on Super 16mm film. “This movie had to feel raw and gritty and not at all digital or glossy,” says Ellis, who also shot Metro Manila on Super 16. “There is a weight and a tension throughout the whole occupied city, so I wanted the movie to feel oppressive with this tea-stained look and soft lighting.”  To underscore the aesthetic, Ellis used handheld cameras exclusively. “That gives the story a subjective view, as if we are on the ground with our heroes, trying to pull off this near-impossible task.” The use of real locations intensified the sense of the story’s historical significance for cast and crew. For instance, exterior sequences for the climactic firefight were filmed at the Saints Cyril and Methodius Cathedral, where the bloody showdown between paratroopers and Nazis actually took place. To commemorate the battle, an on-site plaque lists names of the men who sacrificed their lives for Czech freedom. “To be able to film outside the actual cathedral was an absolute privilege,” says Ellis. “It was like stepping back in time.”  To recreate Prague’s 1940s appearance, Ellis hired production designer Morgan Kennedy, with whom he had worked on his 2008 horror film The Broken. Poring over historical archives, Kennedy found a wealth of detail that ultimately made it onto the screen. “We based our designs on a vast amount of original documentation,” says Ellis. “Our goal was to recreate almost every space to the highest possible level of detail.”  For the scenes inside the cathedral, a replica of the church’s vast interior was built by more than 40 crew members at Barrandov Studios, one of the largest soundstages in Europe. The ceiling alone weighed 16 tons and was produced on the ground from 910 bags of concrete, 300 bags of plaster, nearly 1,000 square feet of glass and over 35,000 square feet of wooden boards. Crew members then hoisted the ceiling into position with 38 chain winches.  Dornan was floored by the accuracy of the cathedral set. “On a Tuesday, I went to the real cathedral and saw the actual spot where my character Jan took his last breath, which had a massive effect on me,” he recalls. “And then on Thursday I went to the set of the church. It blew my mind because it was literally identical. The attention to detail was like nothing I’ve ever seen, reproduced exactly to the scale of the church. Honestly, it’s the most impressive set I’ve ever seen in my life.”  Production designer Kennedy supervised construction of the massive replica interior, whose dimensions were within inches of those of the actual church. “This was the biggest thing I’ve ever built,” says Kennedy. “When the manager of Barrandov Studios came over to see the finished cathedral, she was so overcome by emotion she started crying.”

On the Barrandov backlot, crew members recreated the secret crypt where Czechoslovakian paratroopers hid after the attack on Heydrich. Filmmakers shot on the set for three days before flooding the entire room for the film’s final scenes. “We built this beautiful church and then destroyed it,” says Ellis. “We shot the firefight chronologically over five intense days so the damage to the walls would increase as the chaos builds. The final battle is the film’s showpiece, so after all that tension, it’s crucial that we see first-hand the danger these paratroopers faced and the incredible bravery they demonstrated.” Many members of the Czechoslovakian resistance were tortured at Petschek Palace, a former bank converted to Gestapo headquarters during the war. Today, the Palace hosts a basement museum dedicated to the memory of the fighters. For the Anthropoid shoot, the filmmakers restored the building to its wartime look. And in a chilling recreation of the Nazi reign of terror, the scene depicting young violinist At’a Moravec’s torture at the hands of Gestapo officers was filmed in the same room where the real interrogation took place. For action set in locations that no longer exist, Ellis and his team worked from reference photographs to recreate these sites as accurately as possible. The assassination scene was filmed at a street corner that resembles almost identically the spot of the original assassination, which is now covered by a highway. Although the Moravec family’s apartment still exists, it was deemed too small for the roving camera the production needed. So the filmmakers painstakingly recreated the living quarters at Barrandov with removable walls, replicating every detail of the original, right down to the hallway tiles.

Similarly, Kennedy and his crew refused to compromise when it came to the car Nazi General Heydrich rides in during the assassination attempt. “Early on we tried to find a replica of the Mercedes Heydrich rode in when he got assassinated,” says Kennedy. “There were a few options but none of them were the exact car so we decided to build it from scratch because we wanted to remain faithful to the accuracy of the story. We found a Mercedes museum and rented original headlights, original moldings and pieces of chrome. We then made our own seat, steering wheel and dashboard.”  Anthropoid was shot on a tight schedule of many long days during a summer of record-breaking heat. Still, the atmosphere on set brimmed with excitement says Liddell. “I would just watch in awe the way Sean ran the set and his vision of the film. It was probably one of my favorite sets I’ve ever been on.”  Ellis praises cast and crew for coming together in difficult conditions to create a film that is at once thrilling and important. “Everybody knew they were doing something special and they were proud to be part of it. We were all passionate about telling this story to the world.”

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