RESISTANCE – Review

Who knew legendary mime Marcel Marceau was a member of the French Resistance as a very young man? That startling and intriguing fact is the basis of RESISTANCE, a well-made inspirational historical film which follows the young French-born Polish Jewish aspiring actor, as he is drawn into the fight against the Nazis in France in World War II.

The great strength of RESISTANCE is its remarkable true-story basis, bolstered by a top-notch cast and high-quality production values. The film is more drama and biopic than historical thriller, although it has some suspenseful action sequences. Jesse Eisenberg stars as Marcel Marceau, who starts out life as Marcel Mangel, the son of a Polish-born Jewish butcher who resists his father’s efforts to draw him into the family butcher shop business in Strasbourg, then a part of France on the border with Germany. Young Marcel is an actor and a painter, and only cares about his budding career, secretly sneaking off to perform in cabarets, where he does a Charlie Chaplin-like silent comedy act. Marcel’s older brother Sigmund (Edgar Ramirez) is the serious one, politically opposed to Hitler and active in a group rescuing and sheltering refugee Jewish orphans fleeing Germany.

The group Marcel’s brother is working with is led by the self-sacrificing Georges (Geza Rohrig) but Marcel is drawn to join in his brother’s activism not by politics, but by his attraction to Emma (Clemence Poesy), who also is part of the rescue group. As a cover, they poses as a hiking organization, wearing Boy Scout-like uniforms, and organizing camp like activities for the refugee children. Marcel sees his work as an actor as something serious and for adults, and he resists both being labeled a “clown” and being pushed to entertain children. However, after he meets the traumatized children, particularly young Elsbeth (Bella Ramsey, who played Lorna Luft in JUDY), who saw her parents murdered by the Nazis, he is moved. Slowly he discovers a knack for connecting with the children through humor and mime.

As the Nazis invade France, Marcel and his brother find themselves on the run with the children, and eventually join the Resistance, where Marcel puts his skills as a painter to work forging passports.

Director Jonathan Jakubowicz’s polished English-language historical drama recreates the time period perfectly, and is filled with beautifully shot scenes, picture-perfect European locations, period costumes and careful attention to details, in as high-quality a historical production as one could want.

Eisenberg does a fine job as Marcel Marceau (a non-Jewish name he adopted for a forged passport while in hiding from the Nazis). Yes, Eisenberg does imitate some of Marceau’s signature mime moves (although not the famous “trapped in a box” routine). Unsurprisingly, Eisenberg is much better in the dramatic and comic portions of the film than the mime, although he does a serviceable job.

The title refers not just to the French Resistance but to Marcel’s resistance of many things – his father’s efforts to push him into the family butcher business, entertaining children, his older brother’s political activism, entertaining children – but it also means resisting the loss of hope, of being consumed by hate, or having tragedy define him. It is an inspiring story, an uplifting survivor’s tale about a figure one does not generally associate with WWII, and a wonderful untold tale of personal bravery, one that will particularly resonate with Jewish audiences. Like many biopics or heroic tales, it follows a certain feel-good formula, although these days a feel-good film is not a bad thing, although not a ground-breaking film artistically.

The cast is so good in this film that it lifts it above some of the usual shortcomings of historical biopics. The acting is strong enough to almost overcome those inherent limits of biopics. Eisenberg is excellent but so are Clemence Poesy and young Bella Ramsey, who has screen presence and a piercing gaze. The excellent international cast also includes Ed Harris, as General George Patton narrating the story to a crowd of G.I.s right after the war’s end, plus Geza Rohrig, the astounding actor from SON OF SAUL, Edgar Ramirez as Marcel’s older brother, Matthias Schweighofer as a chilling Klaus Barbee. Karl Markovics from THE COUNTEFEITERS, and a host of other lesser-known but talented actors. Young Bella Ramsey is very good as the lead child character in this story, with nice chemistry with both Eisenberg and Poesy, serving as a kind of surrogate daughter to the pair. Poesy and Eisenberg have nice chemistry together, creating the right balance of warmth and reserve, as jokester Marcel works shyly to win the heart of serious, skeptical Emma.

If you are looking for an inspirational true-story to lift the spirits and a bit of historical film escape, RESISTANCE is an very good choice. RESISTANCE was originally set for a theatrical debut on March 27 but instead is streaming on demand on various platforms, including Amazon and Vudu.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars