Jamie Dornan’s ‘Anthropoid’ Opens Karlovy Vary With a Bang
The Karlovy Vary Film Festival got off to a dazzling start on Friday with a titillatingly impressive stage number, a prize for Willem Dafoe, and the world premiere of “Anthropoid,” Sean Ellis’ World War II thriller set in Czechoslovakia.
Presenting his competition pic, which stars Jamie Dornan, Cillian Murphy and Toby Jones, Ellis said his story of two soldiers who return to their native Czechoslovakia on a secret mission to assassinate a high-ranking Nazi official had been a 15-year-long obsession.
“It’s been a long journey to bring it all the way home to the Czech Republic tonight for you,” Ellis said. “It’s a great honor. I dedicate this film to the men and women of the former Czechoslovakia who stood up against tyranny with indomitable spirit and sacrificed everything for what they believed.”
Dornan added: “We realized what an important story this is to the Czech Republic and we felt a great deal of pressure to tell it in an appropriate way and honor the men and women involved. I really hope that we’ve done that. We’re very proud of the movie and I hope that we’ve done the country proud as well.”
The Czech Ministry of Defense was instrumental in supporting the project, which shot in the country and in the city of Prague as well as at Barrandov Studio.
Earlier in the evening, festival president Jiri Bartoska presented Dafoe with the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema.
“I’m very happy to be here at Karlovy Vary,” the actor said, visibly moved. “Film is so important. It gives us so much. I’m just very proud that my contribution has been honored this way.”
Taking place at the Hotel Thermal’s vast theater, the ceremony opened with a rocking intro that combined old-world charm and catwalk aesthetic, a titillating stage show and psychedelic audiovisual spectacle set to pulsating ‘60s-inspired beats with scantily clad dancers, strapping acrobats and even a horse and rider that nearly brought the house down.
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