Resistance Parent Guide

Marcel (Jesse Eisenberg) is an aspiring performer. Although his father Charles (Karl Markovics) would prefer that his son follow in his footsteps as a kosher butcher, Marcel continues to work on his mime skills and writing a play. But when his brother Alain (Félix Moati) helps rescue over one hundred orphaned Jewish children, Marcel finds that his time is better spent entertaining the children and teaching them to survive in a hostile world. When the Nazis invade their small town, they flee to Lyon, where Marcel joins the French Resistance. Not that the Nazis plan to make it easy – the malicious Gestapo agent in charge of Lyon, Klaus Barbie (Matthias Schweighöfer) is determined to flush out the Resistance at any cost.

Resistance is largely based on historical people and events, with some Hollywood narrative flourishes. As the end credits acknowledge, both Marcel Marceau and Klaus Barbie (aka “the butcher of Lyon”) were real people. What those end credits don’t mention is that following the war, Barbie, a man wanted for crimes against humanity, was picked up by U.S. intelligence forces and used as an agent in Europe. When an outraged French government discovered that Barbie was alive, the United States helped him (and other wanted war criminals) escape to Bolivia. Not acknowledging this bit of Allied whitewashing – even in the end credits - is, as far as I’m concerned, despicable. Ironically, a film that vilifies collaborators seems strangely willing to ignore complicity when it’s convenient. Perhaps director Jonathan Jakubowicz felt the heroic and heartfelt depiction of General Patton would have been undercut by admitting that Patton’s government didn’t feel it necessary to prosecute a man responsible for an estimated 14,000 deaths.

Not that this production’s problems end there – although compared to this moral quagmire, other issues feel fairly minor. It might sound petty, but I need to register a complaint about the French accents in the film. Accents are one of the riskiest moves actors make. Dick van Dyke is unlikely ever to live down his disastrous “cockney” accent in Marry Poppins – and Jesse Eisenberg’s French accent is even worse. That is, it’s worse when he remembers to do it. About half the time, he doesn’t even try and what comes out is pure American. Frankly, I’d prefer that he not try to assume an accent at all. Since all characters are supposed to be speaking French anyway, I’ve already accepted that the dialogue isn’t going to be authentic. They might as well make it less agonizing to listen to.

But in spite of these problems, Resistance has more than a few genuinely heartwarming moments. I have never been a fan of Jesse Eisenberg but his portrayal of Marcel and the wonderful moments he shares with the children cement the reasons people chose to fight the Nazi occupation. The movie’s messages of physical and moral courage are inspiring and provide the kind of lessons most parents want their teens to absorb. There are also surprisingly few content concerns for a movie set in the Second World War. Apart from some brief violence and a scene depicting torture, there are almost no serious content issues. Violent and frightening scenes render Resistance unsuitable for children, but it is appropriate for teen viewers. If you can muscle your way past the sins of omission and Eisenberg’s atrocious French accent, there is a good story here about the hideous realities of Nazism and the extraordinary lengths ordinary people went to in order to save complete strangers.