The Man with the Iron Heart (2017)
Country: FR/BEL/GB/US/GER/HUN
Technical: col/2.35:1 120m
Director: Cédric Jimenez
Cast: Jason Clarke, Rosamund Pike, Jack O'Connell, Mia Wasikowska, Jack Reynor, Stephen Graham (as Himmler)
Synopsis:
The career of Reinhard Heydrich, the 'butcher of Prague', and his death at the hands of the Czech Resistance.
Review:
Skilfully made though it is, the Weinsteins' historical drama wears its audience down by the sheer weight of events: the ignominious rise, the ethnic cleansing Einstatzgruppen, the Final Solution conference and promotion to Reich Protector of Bohemia-Moravia; at which point we suddenly leave the Heydrich household and start over with the Czech characters. Taking the assassination attempt as its jumping off point before twice building back up to it, the screenplay is nothing if not suspenseful, while contriving not to 'spoil' the outcome, but aside from its portraits of supreme evil and self-sacrifice it is still little more than a handsomely shot history lesson, with plenty of close-up brutality and subjective effect shots to hold us in its narrative grip. Clarke's is a brave and convincing impersonation, but the film is snatched from him halfway through, making one think that a series might have been the more appropriate format.
Country: FR/BEL/GB/US/GER/HUN
Technical: col/2.35:1 120m
Director: Cédric Jimenez
Cast: Jason Clarke, Rosamund Pike, Jack O'Connell, Mia Wasikowska, Jack Reynor, Stephen Graham (as Himmler)
Synopsis:
The career of Reinhard Heydrich, the 'butcher of Prague', and his death at the hands of the Czech Resistance.
Review:
Skilfully made though it is, the Weinsteins' historical drama wears its audience down by the sheer weight of events: the ignominious rise, the ethnic cleansing Einstatzgruppen, the Final Solution conference and promotion to Reich Protector of Bohemia-Moravia; at which point we suddenly leave the Heydrich household and start over with the Czech characters. Taking the assassination attempt as its jumping off point before twice building back up to it, the screenplay is nothing if not suspenseful, while contriving not to 'spoil' the outcome, but aside from its portraits of supreme evil and self-sacrifice it is still little more than a handsomely shot history lesson, with plenty of close-up brutality and subjective effect shots to hold us in its narrative grip. Clarke's is a brave and convincing impersonation, but the film is snatched from him halfway through, making one think that a series might have been the more appropriate format.
Country: FR/BEL/GB/US/GER/HUN
Technical: col/2.35:1 120m
Director: Cédric Jimenez
Cast: Jason Clarke, Rosamund Pike, Jack O'Connell, Mia Wasikowska, Jack Reynor, Stephen Graham (as Himmler)
Synopsis:
The career of Reinhard Heydrich, the 'butcher of Prague', and his death at the hands of the Czech Resistance.
Review:
Skilfully made though it is, the Weinsteins' historical drama wears its audience down by the sheer weight of events: the ignominious rise, the ethnic cleansing Einstatzgruppen, the Final Solution conference and promotion to Reich Protector of Bohemia-Moravia; at which point we suddenly leave the Heydrich household and start over with the Czech characters. Taking the assassination attempt as its jumping off point before twice building back up to it, the screenplay is nothing if not suspenseful, while contriving not to 'spoil' the outcome, but aside from its portraits of supreme evil and self-sacrifice it is still little more than a handsomely shot history lesson, with plenty of close-up brutality and subjective effect shots to hold us in its narrative grip. Clarke's is a brave and convincing impersonation, but the film is snatched from him halfway through, making one think that a series might have been the more appropriate format.