Resistance (2011 film)

Resistance
Resistance
Directed by	Amit Gupta
Written by	Amit Gupta; Owen Sheers
Based on	Resistance; by Owen Sheers
Produced by	Amanda Faber; Richard Holmes
Starring	Andrea Riseborough; Tom Wlaschiha; Michael Sheen
Cinematography	John Pardue
Edited by	Christopher Barwell
Music by	Mark Bradshaw
Production; companies	Big Rich Films; Film Agency for Wales; Square One Entertainment
Distributed by	Metrodome Distribution
Release dates	16 September 2011 (Cambridge Film Festival); 25 November 2011 (United Kingdom);
Running time	92 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom; Germany
Language	English

Resistance is a 2011 Welsh film directed by Amit Gupta and starring Andrea Riseborough, Tom Wlaschiha and Michael Sheen. It is based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Owen Sheers. The film takes place in an alternative reality in which Germany invades the United Kingdom during World War II.

Plot

After all the women in a remote valley on the Welsh border awaken to find their husbands have left to serve in the covert British Resistance, German occupiers arrive in the alternative reality thriller set in 1944 in which D-Day has failed and the United Kingdom has been invaded successfully by Germany. Facing a harsh winter, the women and soldiers find they must cooperate to survive, but each distrusts the other. The women want to remain loyal to their absent husbands, the soldiers are at war and the women are their enemy. Over time, the soldiers stop wearing their uniforms. The Germans help with farm chores or may leave a couple of shot rabbits on a porch. The Germans think the war may be over soon and want to take advantage of spending the winter away from war.

Captain Albrecht becomes close to Sarah. To prove he can be trusted, he takes her to a cave where a priceless Medieval world map has been hidden from the Germans. He studied medieval history and did not want the SS or Himmler to get it. Another much more elderly wife named Maggie has become friends with Bernhardt.

Spring has arrived and Sarah convinces Albrecht to let Maggie take her prized cob horse to the county fair, and Bernhardt accompanies her. The women wanted to know if there was any news of their husbands. A friend of Maggie tells her that the group of men that blew up the railway bridge had all been hanged by the Nazis. Maggie returns to the valley with a third-place win but is very changed by the knowledge that the husbands are dead. Young teen George sees Maggie's fair trip as a collaboration with the enemy and shoots her horse as punishment. The loss of both her husband and her horse is enough to kill Maggie.

Soldier Steiner distrusts the valley women and he runs off to town with the Army radio. Albrecht is in love with Sarah and asks her to escape with him before the Gestapo come. She agrees but actually goes home and writes her date of death in the family Bible. She then makes sure to burn the priceless map to keep it from the Germans. Always loyal to her husband and country, she walks off into the mountains to escape, and the film ends.

Cast

Andrea Riseborough as Sarah Lewis
Tom Wlaschiha as Captain Albrecht Wolfram
Michael Sheen as Tommy Atkins
Kimberley Nixon as Bethan Evans
Alexander Dreymon as Steiner
Iwan Rheon as George Bowen
Simon Armstrong as George's father
Stanislav Ianevski as Bernhardt
Sharon Morgan as Maggie Jones
Melanie Walters as Helen Roberts
Anatole Taubman as Sebald
Matt Hookings as German soldier
Mossie Smith as Ruth Evans
George Taylor as Gernot
Jassa Ahluwalia as Russian Partisan (voice)
Nia Gwynne as Sian Griffiths
Tomos Eames as Tom Lewis
Kerry Hutchinson as Gestapo officer
Callan Mcauliffe as Terrence Green
Marie Ingle as Terrence Green's girlfriend

External links