Resistance (2011)

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

From my favorite movies..

Absolutely Fantastic

It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

The IMDb synopsis is weak and does NOT provide the slightest indication of what this movie is about. I think it's unfair to call this an actual spoiler, since anything anyone takes away from the movie is a simply their best guess.In a nutshell, British men leave a village overnight without leaving any indication as to why to the women they leave behind. German soldiers arrive and they hang out in the villager and help the women over the time they stay. The only resistance they meet is initially overcome by providing support for the women, then they all find out what's going on in the rest of the country and the movie ends - abruptly.This is a empty container of a movie with all the right parts, but unassembled, leaving me with more questions than answers.Many of the reviewers will say it's a movie for those with sophisticated senses, but NONE offer an iota of their speculation as to what was being portrayed...leaving me to think - hogwash - pure speculation.Let me also point out that a good deal of the movie is in German without subtitles and as such you miss a tremendous amount of dialog that otherwise might have shed some light on the intent of the German soldiers or their reactions to situations. Five minute scene in German, no explanations.It WAS a film without the dialogue or intent to nail down any particular message, other than people will try to make the best of a situation...until the situation changes.Spend your time as you will, but don't say you haven't been warned.

The fascinating premise of "Resistance" is that Germany repelled the D-Day invasion and eventually won the Second World War. In the waning stages of the war, a small German army contingent arrives in Wales where they discover a small rural area where all the menfolk have fled to fight in the resistance. The German soldiers get settled in the community, and the major dramatic action is how the local Welsh women will react to the soldiers, who apparently treat the women with kindness.This premise had tremendous potential to explore what constitutes "resistance" versus "collaboration." It is clear that the local men left their homes to resist the invading Nazis. But what about the women? Are they in their own capacities also resisting? Or, have they capitulated when they accept favors from their occupiers? The focal point is the character Sarah, who remains committed to her husband Tom, despite the attention paid her by the German captain. The actress Andrea Louise Riseborough is excellent in the main role.Unfortunately, the good potential of this drama is not realized because the film never probes deeply into the main topic of collaboration. Riseborough's character never seems curious about the fate of her husband, and the ending of the film is especially disappointing, due to its vagueness.There was beautiful photography of the Welsh landscape, and the performers were excellent. But much of this film did not make sense. It was never clear why the victorious German soldiers would risk their lives by remaining in a small community where they were obviously not welcome. And why should the kid who is fighting in the resistance movement kill the poor woman who traveled with the colt to try to discover the whereabouts of her husband? Above all, it was unclear why the strong-willed women, fully capable of resistance, did not resist! At the same time, they really didn't "collaborate" either! In a film called "Resistance," there was not enough substance to do justice to the title.

I'm big on war movies and I bought this cause the plot seemed appealing. I just got done watching it and it made me wish I could get my money back. This was more of a sappy love story between a woman whose husband left the village to presumably join the resistance and a German officer who stumbles upon her home cause they want to set up an outpost in the village. Considering what the title of the movie is, I expected to see action between resistance fighters and the Nazis. I saw none of that in this film. Since when is shooting a horse a normal action from a resistance fighter? This was pretty much the only action in the whole film if you don't count the random flashbacks that explain nothing. Complete waste of time.

A fairly interesting premise, and a story that might have been far more interesting if I didn't find myself having to switch on my superpower sense of hearing to make sense of the irritating mumbling between the characters.Of course, no sooner had I upped the volume the music started playing - an eardrum-throbbing violin.The net result was that I found myself spending more time playing with the volume buttons on the remote control than I did watching the film - a shame as it was on the whole pretty atmospheric.I couldn't see the point of the Michael Sheen character, but the German Hauptmann was quietly convincing - if perhaps a little too quiet when he was not speaking German.