The Man with the Iron Heart

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source: The Man with the Iron Heart

It's not authentic. Many mistakes. Amateur approach.

The assassination in Prague in 1942 of Reinhardt Heydrich - 'protector' of Bohemia and Moravia and one of the planners of the 'final solution' - was one of the most spectacular events of WWII. Although it did not change dramatically the fate of the war, it had a strong impact on the moral of both the German as well as the Czech and other nations fighting on the allies side, proving that the Nazi occupiers were not immortal and that punishment was to be inflicted on the heads of their regime. It also led to savage reprisals that destroyed any hope of cooperation between the German and the occupied Czech areas. 'The Man with the Iron Heart' based on a novel by Laurent Binet and directed by Cédric Jimenez carefully describes the main characters of this historical drama as well as the events before and after the attack on Heydrich. A few weeks ago I have seen 'The Zookeeper's Wife' which figured as central character the wife of a Polish Resistance hero who helped him in saving the lives of hundreds of Jews in occupied Poland. The first half of 'The Man with the Iron Heart' had the chance to develop as a 'The Holocaust Planner Wife' with a description of the biography and ascension to power of Reinhardt Heydrich, from an immoral officer in the German navy to the highest ranks of the SS under the influence of his wife. We are used to think positively about love stories, and this is a love story of a different kind, the one between two mean people, united by an ideology of hate, deeply corrupt despite the cultural polish of their education and hobbies. This part of the story and the film is supported by the splendid actor work of Rosamund Pike, with Jason Clarke also giving a convincing performance as the hateful and hated ReichProtektor. I liked less the 'punk' version of Himmler created by Stephen Graham, it was supposed to be sarcastic, but hard to laugh about such an horrific historic character. Over all this part of the film is the best in my opinion, and maybe would have deserved to be developed more. The authors of the script however decided to cut the action in the middle and focus in the second part on the resistance fighters who prepared and executed the assassination, the consequences of their deeds and their fatal fate. It was not bad, but closer to the beaten paths. Events of WWII like this one seem to continue to be a source of inspiration for film makers - best proof is that 'The Man with the Iron Heart' is released less than one year away from 'Anthropoid'. Each brings a different perspective, and some of them succeed in creating solid stories, with heroes we care about (sympathize or hate). It's the case of this film as well, a film that I recommend.

I guess I would give this movie 7.5 out of 10. That is subject to a few conditions. First, I like historical drama and I was very disappointed with the movie Anthropoid, which was on the same topic. Second, ther's a slight flaw in the way the movies is divided into two halves. for a while you aren't sure what's happening and not in a good way. What I liked about his that I did not like about Anthropoid? In Anthropoid, i felt little connection to the characters and in this movie, there was an emotional component, even giving some insight into how H himself might have been. I loved that they included the perspective of his wife.I love that they show her giving birth alone while he coldly works. That shows some of the personal cost that is involved in being a mindless killing machine. When the movie transitions form the Heinrich family to the Czech resistance, I love the cinematography, but i would have liked a tiny bit of context. If you know the story, you figure it out one enough, but if you don't know, its disorienting. Another reviewer here complained about the lack of moral context, that is, why these characters fought to hard to do this and what did they achieve. Its true that that is understated, but I like it. They mention it in passing as they debate shutting down the operation. And its implied in the sadness of the end. It was a real sacrifice. maybe an un-thanked sacrifice, maybe a symbolic one. It didn't stop the war and it led to retaliations and suffering. The benefits were not discussed, but as they suggested, it showed the world that there was resistance, that the Nazis were not invincible.

Great movie! In my view the cast was very important in the charms of the movie. Jason Clarke was the perfect person for the role of Reinhard Heydrich. The way he acts is giving you sympathy for the person he play, meanwhile you don't want this sympathy feeling for this person. This internal sense of feeling gives the film a continuous tension from begin to end. In my view the abstract scene's always got some details in it, this makes that no scene is boring to watch. I personally like the movie build up, very well done.

Last year I watched the excellent Anthropoid which deals with the same subject matter. So I was wondering why there were 2 similar movies. This new movie has a broader scope showing Heydrich from the Navy to the Nazi party via his wife (a well suited Rosamund Pike). It also shows him as a father and family man. Jason Clarke does a good job and although he looks like a Nazi he actually doesn't look like Heydrich who had a long thin face. It doesn't matter though. This story is so well suited to the screen it's still a very interesting movie to watch even though it has been done so many times - Operation Daybreak, Anthropoid and now this movie. The scope is broader than Anthropoid showing lots of brutality in Poland, what Heydrich was responsible for and later reprisals in Lidice. But Anthropoid handled the church gun battle in a more exciting action movie way so I recommend watching both movies. It's still one of the most exciting and tragic stories of WWII and is very suited to screen treatment. A major fault is the gun battle in the church is inaccurately portrayed. The Czechs were on the balcony. Also the Church isn't faithfully recreated. There is a silly deviance making the Moravec son a young boy when he was actually older. The other cast members are like Jack O'Connell and Jack Reynor play the heroic fighters. They aren't as charismatic as Jamie Dornan and CIllian Murphy in Anthropoid but probably closer to the real people. Mia Wasikowska is quite suited to the love interest resistance girlfriend of one of them. Despite the faults this is worth watching even if you think you think you may have seen the story before.