Resistance

 

When it comes to war films, Hollywood is the king. This was supposed to be released on 3-27-20, but because of the pandemic, it was sent to online for sale. I, in turn, purchased it and decided to see it as to review it, and it was every bit worth the purchase. This wasn't as much a war film as much as it was centered on a pivotal person in our past and what he did to attempt to change the course of WWII.

Before he was the world-famous mime Marcel Marceau, he was Marcel Mangel (Jesse Eisenberg), an aspiring Jewish actor who, in inadvertently, joined the French Resistance during WWII to save thousands of children orphaned at the hands of the Nazis. He and others, including Emma (Clemence Posey), Georges (Geza Rohrig), Mila (Vica Kerekes) and Dominique (Aurelie Bancilhon) are unsung heroes who put themselves in extreme harm's way to rise above hatred and oppression. As told as a flashback eight years later by General Patton (Ed Harris) to his troops, this film, based on the inspiring true story, is the revolutionary tale of a selfless act that would forever change countless lives. 

Others to round out the cast are Matthias Schweighofer as Klaus Barbie, Karl Markovics as Charles Mangel, Marcel's father, Bella Ramsey as Elsbeth, Alicia von Rittberg as Regine, Klaus' wife, Martha Issova as Flora, Felix Moati as Alain, Edgar Ramirez as Sigmund, Elsbeth's father and Klara Issova as Judith, Elsbeth's mother.

This was rivetingly written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz ("Ships of Hope" (documentary) 2000, "Secuestro express" '05, "Hands of Stone" '16) plus TV and a short. Even though this filmmaker hasn't got a tremendous amount of feature film experience, he certainly knows how to direct actors where they emit the correct amount of emotions and intensity to convey the realism needed for its audience. His writing was amazingly intense and was interesting in that it conveyed the story well to the audience, except that it became a bit long-in-the-tooth about half way through. It probably could've been cut ten minutes from its running time and still convey the story easily enough. Believe me, I wasn't disappointed; this story kept me on the edge of my seat, so how bad could it have been? The cast lead up by Eisenberg was credible and certainly added its own nuance to the story. I definitely believe that this filmmaker will have a far reaching career considering this film. 

As I had mentioned above, this is not so much a war film as it is a backdrop to people's survival and willingness to stick together especially at a time of crisis. Considering we are living through a pandemic, it seems like we are living in a life that pales in comparison to those that lived during this time that atrocities ruled the earth. I believe that in watching this, maybe, just maybe people could see that, as compared, we have it fairly easily. Just saying.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                   Rated: R                                                 120mins.