Jesse Eisenberg has been making headlines as one of the fine up-and-coming actors of our time and his movie, “Reisistance,” has hit DVD outlets this week.
The film, which takes place during World War II, is about a young French actor named Marcel Mangel who fought with the resistance in Limoges and helped save the lives of 10,000 Jewish orphans in France. The full cast includes Edgar Ramírez, Clémence Poésy, Bella Ramsey, Matthias Schweighöfer, Géza Röhrig, Karl Markovics, Félix Moati, Alicia von Rittberg, and Vica Kerekes. This looks very powerful and inspiring, even with a few of the cliche war movie moments. Eisenberg, despite not being French, looks to be giving it his all as Marcel who would go on to become one of the world’s great mimes during his acting career.
Before he becomes a world-famous mime, aspiring Jewish actor Marcel Mangel (Eisenberg) joins the French Resistance to save thousands of orphaned children from the Nazis. “Resistance” is both written and directed by Venezuelan filmmaker Jonathan Jakubowicz, of the films “Secuestro Express” and “Hands of Stone” previously, and also the documentary “Ships of Hope.” Produced by Marco Beckmann, Carlos Garcia de Paredes, Claudine Jakubowicz, Jonathan Jakubowicz, Dan Maag, Stephanie Schettler-Köhler, Thorsten Schumacher, Matthias Schweighöfer, Lars Sylvest, and Patrick Zorer. This hasn’t premiered at any festivals or elsewhere yet.
“Resistance” is a very good film and takes an in-depth look at how the French Resistance worked during WWII and saved literally tens of thousands of lives during the war and did so from behind the scenes. Unlike “JoJo Rabbit,” which garnered a lot of attention earlier in the year and tried and failed to make humor out of the Nazi regime, “Resistance” dealt with real, factual situations and the way things really were during the war.
Eisenberg is stretching his legs so to speak with this role and is beginning to show his real talent as an actor and has taken a giant leap forward from some of his earlier movies, which were good, but didn’t really allow the actor to show what he could become.
Eisenberg is talented and that shows up in this film which is going to turn some heads as it becomes more widespread and when the COVID-19 pandemic begins to slow down and theaters begin to open back up, will showcase the outstanding directing of Jonathan Jakubowicz and the acting of Eisenberg.
While very few of today’s audience will have any recollection of the way things were during WWII, those that do will recognize the scenes and actions of the cast and how things really were.
This is a very good film and on a scale of 1-5 would rate a solid 4.5 on just about anyone’s scale and is definitely worth a look. The movie may not be suitable for youngsters as it deals with the horrors of war, but teens on up will get the meaning and hopefully an idea of just how horrific WWII really was.
While this film is not showing currently in any theaters because of the COVID-19 shutdown, look for it at any video on demand outlets or at Redbox and you should find it.
When shows resume at your local theater, please check at www.royaltheaters.com for show times and seating availability and pricing at the Blackfoot Movie Mill.