theredcomet Reviews

Resistance (2011)

A touching but depressing tale of war, love, and loss.

[10/10 · 23 June 2015]

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.

Children of Men (2006)

I was completely blown away!

[10/10 · 6 January 2007]

At first this movie reminded me of a mix of "V for Vendetta", Vietnam war protest era, and "28 days later" (minus zombies obviously). But it was clear to me from the first "Long-shot" scene that this movie was unlike any other. It far surpasses "V for Vendetta" and any message that movie could ever hope to make. They use a very amazing camera technique where they film these stunning scenes without ever cutting, it's just one complete shot and the choreography is so brilliant and the way the camera moves fluidly within the scene. I knew right then from that first scene how brilliant the director, Alfonso Cuarón is. Sure, he did a fantastic job with the look and feel of Prisoner of Azkaban, but this is just completely on another level.

How to describe this movie? It's a desperate end of the world type situation where, much like V for Vendetta, Britain is the last standing civil nation among the world with all other world powers falling into disarray within the near future of our time line. Humanity has lost the ability to reproduce and people are just waiting around to die out amidst chaos and futileness. We see Britain, much like a Nazi Germany state, where "Homeland Security" is top priority as every last illegal alien is hunted down and transported to camps. We see martial law abound and advertising reflects much of what the government is trying to control. All throughout the movie you can see tidbits of news from the past 20 years which echoes of "Bush's War" and "Bring our Troops Home" leading up to the great decline of society and mankind. We see terror groups in Britain bombing the populace to get their agenda across, then find out that the government is really behind the bombings in order to control the populace through fear. We see internment camps and Guantanamo-style prisons where prisoners strongly reflect photos seen in Abu Ghraib. The very last scene of the movie is about a 20-minute long "one shot" scene of just pure anxiety and emotions. It follows Clive Owen through this harrowing escape as he's navigating his way through war torn streets, militants shouting "Allah Akbar", things blowing up everywhere, people being shot, and utter chaos. How they managed to shoot this whole scene in one take is completely beyond me. But the camera style of following right next to his body and having the camera peer out from behind cover reminds much of a First Person Shooter type game, immersing the audience in the story. Christ, the last half hour of the movie was nerve-wracking, I was sitting in my seat shaking, with my stomach twisted in knots. The theater I was had such a good sound system that when the British Army were firing their tanks into building, you could feel the explosion in your body. It was just... jaw-dropping! The music is brilliant Vietnam War era backdrop which provides a very strong social commentary for the film.

Overall, this movie has some really strong messages about current events in the world today and sends across a very strong message, for those who are intelligent enough to understand it's meaning.

Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003)

An inaccurate movie but good acting.

[6/10 · 14 March 2005]

I was OK up with this film up until the point where Geli comes in and then it all went down from there. In order to demonify Hitler they made it seem like he was a controlling bastard and Geli was scared of him and thought him crazy. Anyone who has done any studying on this subject should know that Geli was completely in love with him and even staged a suicide attempt to get him to notice her more. When he met Eva she couldn't take it anymore, the fact that he wasn't with her all the time and really killed herself out of despair and depression. Not because he was treating her cruelly and being a monster. This really makes me laugh that someone would go and change history so blatantly so it can fit their own concept of an evil maniacal Hitler.

In no way am I supporting Hitler or what he did but a historian is supposed to portray history in an objective and impartial manner. Something that seems hard for filmmakers with their own agenda to do.

I thought Robert Carlyle was very good in his role as were the other actors/actresses.

Hitler's S.S.: Portrait in Evil (1985 TV Movie)

A different perspective.

[9/10 · 13 December 2003]

What I particularly liked about this movie was the fact that it showed a view of the Nazi regime from a different perspective, that of two young German brothers.

In the beginning when the Nazi party is first coming to power we see the life of two young German men. Like everyone else in Germany at that time they too are caught up in Hitler's fanaticism. One brother joins the S.A. and is chided by the other for going along with that "rubbish". But he ends up getting caught up in the S.S. when he is confronted by Heydrich at his university who then persuades him to join not for his beliefs in politics but for his intelligence. Neither knew what they were getting themselves into.

What's most interesting about this story is the emotional aspects. Seeing how the brothers reacted to things that were starting to happen in the Third Reich. It was all minuscule all first. Seeing S.A. officers push an old man down some stairs. The noble but innocent younger brother tries throughout the war to change the evil that was happening all around him but finds that he is blatantly overwhelmed by opposition from his fellow Germans. While the older brother accepts what he cannot change and tries to help his younger brother into being smarter about his actions. Both are forced along a path that is becoming increasingly harder to follow. It definitely shows how some Germans were forced to go along with what was happening or be killed themselves.

The acting in this movie was really well done. My only gripe was that the actors had British accents all throughout the movie which made you wake up from the story and detract from the realism. Some parts I busted up laughing seeing these guys in Nazi uniforms talking in thick British accents. But the acting by the two brothers was very good and believable. It was very emotional to see what they were going through and felt as they watched people die and the world change around them.