MovieChat Forums > Anthropoid (2016) Discussion > Why was the gun jam never addressed?

Why was the gun jam never addressed?

posted 8 years ago by sparklingdark
17 replies | jump to latest

At the climactic moment, when Josef pulls out the gun to assassinate Heydrich, the gun malfunctions. This stopped me in my tracks for a moment. Whether it jammed or he failed to put it together correctly (fumbling as he was underneath the raincoat) was conveniently overlooked. This stopped me in my tracks for a moment. Whether it jammed or he failed to put it together correctly (fumbling as he was underneath the raincoat) was conveniently overlooked. Later in the movie, Josef states, "It was my fault, my fault." But we still don't know. I for one, would have thought mentioning this incident somewhere in the film what happened was needed.

[–] cloud7_20 8 years ago

Earlier in the movie he was told to keep his gun clean. I took that as Foreshadowing, so my guess is the gun jammed because he didn't keep it clean.

Trying is the first step towards failure
-homer simpson

[–] grappa123 8 years ago

Earlier in the movie he was told to keep his gun clean. I took that as Foreshadowing, so my guess is the gun jammed because he didn't keep it clean.

I'd forgotten about that! I knew STEN guns were famously unreliable, but the warning about the filthy gun- yes!

[–] SnappinTurtle 8 years ago

My guess is that it wasn't addressed because as far as I understand, history doesn't know why it jammed. In the long term I don't think it would have changed anything about the reprisals. There escape would have been cleaner, but I doubt they would have gotten out of the country.

It just happened, and during the chaos of the ensuing days they wouldn't have analyzed it too closely.

Cloud is right, there was a bit of foreshadowing early on with the girlfriend castigating him for the dirty pistol.

Still, I was hoping they weren't going to blame the jammed rifle on sloppiness. It is highly unlikely a trained assassin would neglect his guns.

There is also that very tense scene where we see him blindly put the gun together under his coat. His partner even asks him if it is ok and Josef confirms it is, but he isn't his normal collective self either.

I think the movie was right to leave it open ended.

[–] pjpoconnell 8 years ago

It was a British gun, and--historically--Czechs had complained about their poor quality.

[–] nakedgirl 8 years ago

Sten gun pos

[–] nakedgirl 8 years ago

Sten gun pos

[–] pjpoconnell 8 years ago

Nakedgirl: I'm sorry, but I don't know what "pos" means in your post.

[–] hennypenpen 8 years ago

I believe she is equating the sten to a piece of sh*t (pos).

[–] pjpoconnell 8 years ago

Hennypenpen: Thank you for the explanation!

[–] loco_73 8 years ago

There is a jam made out of guns?! Wow...

"Today is the tomorrow I was so worried about yesterday"--Anthony Hopkins

[–] Lazaka 8 years ago

I too didn't understand why they didn't address it, I didn't know if it was a setup, he messed up putting it together under his coat, he never kept his guns clean, he just didn't practice putting it together fast enough under his coat, you name it....

Then it dawned on me, maybe they just didn't know why it jammed. I've watched a lot of shows to know that those types of old weapons would malfunction all the time and Josef was taking a huge risk as it was to step out onto the road with it. I was shocked he didn't have a backup plan ready immediately.

Joon:you're out of your tree Sam: it's not my tree 

[–] ib011f9545i 8 years ago

lots of stuff written about how unreliable Sten guns were.
But perhaps they were not well enough trained or they panicked?

Sten guns were unreliable and short range but they were cheap to make and could be broken down into small parts,easy to hide it you were a resistance fighter.

A Thompson gun and an automatic pistol might have been a better choice for equipment.

I have a book about the assassination somewhere,must read it sometime.

[–] john-p 8 years ago

On the subject of Sten guns, this film gets bonus points because no-one holds a Sten gun by the magazine while firing it - a common sight in films, but it would cause a mis-feed straight away.

[–] ib011f9545i 8 years ago

you are right about the holding the magazine thing,you see that error a lot in war films.

But if you have seen the film you might agree that the gun does not jam,he pulls the bolt back pulls the trigger and the bolt shoots forward and clunk,the gun does not fire.
He repeats the process with the same result.

Just before the attack scene he has to assemble the sten gun under his coat,does he forget to put a piece of the gun in place?
Does he leave the safety on?
(I am not a gun expert).

But watching the film and knowing the known problems with the Sten jamming you would think they would have their pistols ready?

[–] ib011f9545i 8 years ago

according to a post on ARRSE a British army discussion website the problem was that when you remove the butt of the Sten you stop the bolt from bouncing back and forth on the spring (I said I was not a gun expert).
So he should not have removed the butt,if he had left it it might have fired.

(search ARRSE Heydrich to get the discussion)

[–] larry8827 8 years ago

There were 2 probable reasons why it jammed. 1) the sten gun was carried stripped down and covered with grass for camouflage (lots of people collected grass for feeding rabbits to help with food shortages and this was quite common). When he assembled it grass may have got caught in the working parts. 2) when Josef prepared the weapon he may have not fully disengaged the safety catch. The actual reason is unknown and probably doesn't matter. The stock being removed was a variant they had practiced repeatedly with and had worked so that was not an issue. And it's unlikely that in real life they would have had dirty weapons. The sten was mass produced on the cheap and was pretty notorious for being unreliable so it may have just been bad luck.

[–] 8 years ago

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