Resistance (2011)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

A Surprisingly Unforgettable Movie!

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The alternate reality concept is what drew me to the movie. But the scenes are so slow with long periods of characters just staring at one another in silence or staring out across the landscape that I almost wish that I could have hit fast forward repeatedly without the fear of missing some vital dialogue.SPOILER: STOP IF YOU ARE GOING TO WATCH. The premise of the movie is that a German unit is searching for a map that is important to the German SS. But the maps importance is never explained. In addition, key characters make life-changing decisions without explanation to the audience as to why they're making the decisions. And then the movie justt ends with no resolution of what is going to happen with these characters.

The first problem with this movie is its utter lack of believability. Alternative history can be very interesting, but to be interesting it has to be credible. This failed the credibility test right from the start. The opening caption said something like "After the failure of the D-Day invasion, Germany invaded England." What? Really? Certainly it's believable that the D-Day invasion could have failed. Even Eisenhower was afraid of that. But even if it had failed, could the Germans have invaded England? In 1944? Germany was losing on the Eastern Front. The Soviets were steadily advancing toward Germany's borders. The Germans wouldn't have been able to spare the resources necessary to successfully invade England in 1944. (I read one reviewer who suggested that in this timeline Germany had defeated the Soviet Union. Maybe - but I honestly don't remember that being stated in the movie.) If this had been set in 1940, when Germany was at peace with the Soviet Union and at the height of its power? If this had been a depiction of a successful "Operation Sea Lion"? Maybe. But not the scenario presented. That just didn't work for me. So, right from the start this movie had a huge credibility gap with me.It doesn't recover from that. There's an intriguing enough mystery. In a Welsh village (post German invasion of England) all the women wake up and discover that all the men are simply gone. Where did they go - and, more mysterious, how did they get away without anyone noticing. None of the women woke up when their men were getting out of bed? One presumes that they left to join the resistance - which the title implies - but who knows. It wasn't really the point of the story anyway. The point was the relationship between the women and the German occupiers of the village, because at some point a handful of German soldiers come wandering into the village. They're nice fellows, really. They help the women out with farm work and do some hunting of rabbits to provide them with food. They give up their uniforms and settle easily into life in the Welsh village. You'd hardly know there was a war going on. You see the swastika a couple of times - but there's nothing particularly ominous about it. Life pretty much goes on as it did before - with the German soldiers there instead of the men, although there's nothing "inappropriate" that happens between the Germans and the women. Yeah, a bit of a romance develops, but it's quite proper. The most dramatic moment of the movie is the accidental shooting of a horse by someone in the British resistance who I think meant to kill the woman who owned the horse, believing her to be a "collaborator." But in terms of any sustained drama - this was a real dud.It disappointed me. There's a lot of potential in the story of a fictional German occupation of a British village. But none of that potential showed itself here. And the constant flashbacks to pre- invasion (or at least pre-occupation) served no real purpose and accomplished little. If somebody wanted to make this kind of film then why not base it on real events, like the German occupation of Britain's Channel Islands? (2/10)

This film is breathtaking and beautiful with gorgeous scenery, cinematography, acting, and story line. It is a film that DEEPLY touches the heart.Plot summary below:Resistance is not really a good title for this movie since it is not really about resistance. The premise is that the D-Day invasion has failed and that Nazi Germany is in the process of occupying Britain and the war will be over soon. A small group of German soldiers are sent on a mission to a secluded Welsh valley to look for a piece of medieval artwork reported to be there. This valley is extremely small with only a couple of farms on it. Meanwhile, all the husbands of the women there have disappeared. It never really explains what happened to them, but it can be surmised from the beginning of the film that they leave to participate in some guerrilla action and never make it back.One of the main characters of the movie is the German Captain Albrecht. He notifies the women of the valley that his men will be posted there for a couple of weeks. He tries at first to find out where all the men went, but soon abandons that pursuit. The main female character is farm wife Sarah, who feels extremely hurt and betrayed that her husband left in the middle of the night without saying anything (for her safety), but she also deeply misses him and is scared for both his safety and what this meas for her future. When the German soldiers show up this makes her feel even more alone and vulnerable. Sarah and the rest of the women of the valley band together for support because the women feel scared and alone without their husbands and at first they don't want to have anything to do with the German soldiers. But Albrecht and his men are, for the most part, kind and compassionate to the people of the valley and treat them with respect while searching for the lost artifact, which was hidden before the invasion. The woman tell the soldiers they cannot cooperate with the enemy and be collaborators and the soldiers respect their wishes.Soon the harsh winter comes and threatens the livelihoods of the women's farms and the soldiers catch food and start to offer help to the resistant women. When they help the women during a particularly bad storm, they start to come around and accept the help of the German soldiers around their farms who take on the tasks of their missing husbands. Meanwhile, Albrecht has found the lost artifact but hides the location from both his men and the high command so they can stay there longer. He suffers from PTSD due to his men being killed in the war and also from the death of his wife and child in a bombing raid. The peaceful seclusion of the valley offers him something he has been longing far since the beginning of the war and he will do anything to keep it that way by keeping both the German command out of the picture and by stopping any communication into and out of the valley - his reasoning being that they can wait out the rest of the war in the valley so no more of his men get killed. The acting by Albrecht's actor Tom Wlaschiha is phenomenal and you can really see the pain in his eyes and face and the struggles he goes through, but you can also see his strength as he takes care of his men and his kindness and compassion for the women. Albrecht develops a subtle relationship with Sarah who is missing her husband and who seems heavily depressed. Their relationship is probably the most interesting part of the film. The other women also develop different relationships with the soldiers as they work around the farm and care for them. The change in the women's attitude is also shown by the soldiers adopting the husbands' farming clothes.A young boy who never went to the front was instructed before the invasion on how to resist the enemy. He spies on the valley and soon finds a way to interrupt their idyllic lives. I won't give away the ending but the whole movie is very heart-wrenching and you really feel for both the women, the group of soldiers, and the angry boy who wants to do his part in fighting the enemy.This movie shows the horrors of war very honestly and really explores the nature of human beings and the feelings of love and loss during wartime.It is not an action movie, but more of a slow character drama. It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

When I heard this was a movie about an alternate reality where Britain lost the Second World War and becomes under German control, I thought "GREAT!! Sounds like an fascinating exploration of people suffering under the occupation of an enemy force." The truth is somewhat different though... in fact, my initial reaction couldn't have been less accurate if I'd assumed David Cameron would be a Conservative Prime Minister.The 'action' focuses on a lonely Welsh valley, after D-day has failed and all the men disappear overnight. A handful of Jerrys appear (The budgeters couldn't afford to hire any more, ya see) and take over the even smaller population (Man, those purse strings must've been tight), and one of them takes a fancy to a local girl who's husband has gone AWOL. His pathetic attempts at courtship takes up the lion's share of the length, while some dogs, a horse and a sheep die in tragic circumstances.What's that? You wanted MORE? You expected large scale gun battles, the sight of people suffering during Nazi authority, real tension, and God forbid, some genuine wartime atmosphere? None of that here, matey. The Germans here seem like nice chappies, helping out around the farm and treating the residents with respect and curtesy. This might be alright for the fictional characters in the movie, but it kills all interest stone dead.There are myriads of flashbacks, none of help move the plot forward at all and only serve to confuse the viewer with their irrelevance. I didn't care about any of these people, because the script gave me nothing TO care about. You'd be hard pushed to find anything that lasts for more than 80 minutes where less happens, and considering the Can't-Miss central premise, this is a crime. One day, they'll make a film about this very subject, on a much grander scale.And, *fingers crossed* it'll be nothing like this. 3/10