ReelBob: ‘Resistance’ ★★½

By Bob Bloom

Courage comes in many forms. Overcoming your fears to confront an enemy face-to-face can be as heroic as firing a weapon on a battlefield.

“Resistance” tells the story of a young Marcel Marceau who, before he became the world’s most famous mime, was simply Marcel Mangel, an aspiring Jewish actor, who worked in his father’s kosher butcher shop while dreaming of stardom.

The movie, written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz, offers a portrait of a young man whose laser-focus to become an actor put him at odds with his family and friends, who saw him as selfish and strange.

The film, set in France from 1938 to 1942, details Mangel’s transformation into a member of the French Resistance in which he used his brains to outwit the Nazis, eventually helping to smuggle hundreds of Jewish children from France to Switzerland.

“Resistance,” while gripping and painful, also is flawed because, at times, Marcel Mangel, who forged a new identity as Marcel Marceau, seems to retreat into the background of his own story.

The opening is set on a tragic night in 1938 Berlin when Elsbeth (Bella Ramsey, “Game of Thrones”) sees her parents dragged from their apartment and murdered in the streets by Nazi soldiers.

The film then switches to Strasbourg, France, on the border with Germany, where we are introduced to Marcel performing in a cabaret, much to the disapproval of his father.

Marcel is self-absorbed — writing a play and painting backdrops for his planned production.

All that changes, though, when Marcel helps some friends settle a group of German-Jewish orphans, including Elsbeth, who passage from Germany was bought by a French charitable organization.

Marcel uses his mime skills to help get the children settled and, in the process, forms an emotional bond with Elsbeth.

When World War II erupts, Marcel helps forge new identities for the children and then helps move them to safer locales in France.

As Marcel witnesses the Germans’ brutality imposed on his fellow Frenchmen, he, along with his brother, Alain (Félix Moati), and girlfriend, Emma (Clémence Poésy, Fleur Delacour in the “Harry Potter” franchise), join the Resistance.

Eventually, they realize the best way to get back at the Germans is to smuggle as many Jewish children as they can into Switzerland before the Nazis can find and murder them.

Because the movie focuses more on the rescue efforts and less on the individuals, Marcel no longer stands out as the main protagonist.

Despite a superb and witty performance by Jesse Eisenberg as Marceau, he sometimes gets buried under the various subterfuges of the storyline.

Eisenberg’s performance is more pronounced in the early parts of the movie in which he allows Marcel’s sometimes arrogant and abrasive personality to grab the spotlight.

As the movie progresses and the emphasis shifts more and more to his actions within the Resistance, Eisenberg seems to tone down Marcel’s quirkiness and individualism.

Still, “Resistance” makes for engrossing viewing, shining a light on a little-known portion of the life of a man who became one the world’s most celebrated artists.

“Resistance” is a celebration of bravery, determination and cleverness in the face of overwhelming and terrifying odds — and how those attributes helped forge and reshape a special performer into a beloved, global figure and a humanitarian.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My reviews appear at ReelBob (reelbob.com) and Rottentomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com). I also review Blu-rays and DVDs. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com or on Twitter @ReelBobBloom. Links to my reviews can be found on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

RESISTANCE
2½ stars out of 4
(R), violence, disturbing images