Review: Resistance

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 Saving lives in silence.

Marcel Marceau (Jesse Eisenberg) will eventually go on to be a famous mime, but when we meet him he's clowning in cabarets in France during the start of the second world war. At the start of the film, a young girl named Elsbeth (Bella Ramsay) watches her family being murdered by Nazi's before she escapes. She comes into Marcel's life along with many other Jewish children that the French Resistance plans to sneak into neutral Switzerland. While Marcel isn't keen on taking part in this at first, his brother Alain (Félix Moati) and friend Emma (Clemence Posey) convince him. 

I didn't know anything about Marceau before watching this film but you're not required to. This isn't so much a bio pic on him, but a story about the horrors of war and how he brought hope to these children during the worst time of their lives. I thought it balanced out well. They don't go over the top with the violence, although one scene is particularly terrifying with the implications, and you still feel very tense during the back half of the film when they group sets out for Switzerland. 

Jesse Eisenberg is an actor that I enjoy, but I struggled with buying him as a French mime. I think in the quieter more dramatic scenes he's very good. Especially when playing off of Posey who gives the best performance in the film. But he occasionally struggles with the accent and his clowning scenes didn't feel very natural. It's not a bad performance, just a bit uneven.

I think I'm getting to the point where I don't need to see another WWII for a while, but this one, while I don't think you need to rush out to see is a decent enough watch for a evening. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B-

Memorable Quote: "What can I do to make sure my daughter is interested in the arts?" - Barbie (Matthias Schweighöfer)


Comments

  1. keith71_98December 9, 2020 at 9:33 AM

    I'm glad you gave it a look. I saw this a few months ago and I really went for it. But it seems like it never really found an audience. And I know you're wanting to take a break from WW2 (it's understandable), but have you seen A Call to Spy? I'm a really big fan of that movie and it's story is pretty potent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 9, 2020 at 11:02 AM

      I think your review was the one that made me add this to much watchlist. It really got lost in the VOD releases, which unfortunately seems to be happening a lot this year. I haven't seen A Call to Spy, I'll have to look that up.

      Delete
  2. thevoid99December 9, 2020 at 6:02 PM

    I'm not sure if I want to see this as I have read about Marcel Marceau being involved in the resistance but I don't know if I want to see Jesse Eisenberg doing a bad French accent.

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    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 10, 2020 at 7:11 AM

      It's very uneven, but it's not the worst attempt at an accent out there. Sometimes it's fine.

      Delete
  3. RuthDecember 9, 2020 at 8:33 PM

    I think I saw the trailer for this a while back and was intrigued. Not sure yet if I want to see this one. I hear ya about WWII movies, there are a ton of them out there... but since Keith mentioned A Call To Spy, now I remember I'm interested in seeing that one.

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    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 10, 2020 at 7:11 AM

      It's worth the DVD watch at least if you have time!

      Delete
  4. GetterDecember 17, 2020 at 4:15 AM

    Don't know why but this sentence "Jesse Eisenberg is an actor that I enjoy, but I struggled with buying him as a French mime" made me laugh.. it's a serious movie but mimes seem so far from that. Anyway, I don't know if I want to watch this.. I didn't even know about this before this review.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 17, 2020 at 7:22 AM

      It does sound ridiculous when you say it out loud.

      Delete

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