Resistance

A film that begins in France before the war. Marcel works in his father's butcher shop. It is not what he wants; he performs in cabarets, does impressions, and tries mime. His father does not take it seriously. He expects his son to take over the business. Then children arrive from Germany. Hundreds of Jewish children orphaned after a synagogue was burned are brought across the border and have to be placed somewhere. Marcel is sent there. He does not want to look after children but goes at his cousin's insistence. They do not speak. Most of the children are silent from shock and nobody can reach them. Marcel uses what he does on stage. He mimes, the children laugh, and the first contact is made. From there the film becomes a story of smuggling. The occupation comes, the region becomes dangerous, and the children have to be got into Switzerland. The journey is through the mountains. False papers, a lorry, a checkpoint and a border. On the other side there is Klaus Barbie. The interrogations in Lyon and the man's conduct towards children are the narrative's hardest section. What the narrative is interested in is not resistance but breaking a silence: Marcel has no weapon; the only thing he has is a skill that will distract children and keep them quiet. Silence carries two meanings. The silent art on stage and the need to make no sound while crossing a border are tied to the same place. The source is a real life. Marcel Marceau was involved in this work during the war and his fame as a mime came in later years. Jesse Eisenberg, Clémence Poésy, Matthias Schweighöfer and Ed Harris are in the cast. Jonathan Jakubowicz wrote and directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes wartime rescue stories. Who it is not for: anyone looking for subtlety; the narrative aims directly at emotion and handles the historical detail freely.