Resistance is a 2020 biopic film directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz.
It is about the early life of Marcel Mangel (who would become known as Marcel Marceau, the most famous mime in the world), during the Occupation of France by Nazi Germany during World War II. Marcel was of Polish Jewish descent, and upon witnessing deportations of people of his kind, decided to put his life at risk by joining the French Resistance.
Jesse Eisenberg portrays Marcel. The cast also includes Clémence Poésy as Emma, Félix Moati as Marcel's brother Alain, Matthias Schweighöfer as Klaus Barbie, Vica Kerekes as Mila, Géza Röhrig as Marcel's cousin Georges Loinger and Bella Ramsey as Elsbeth.
This film provides examples of:
- Adaptation Dye-Job: In Real Life, Klaus Barbie had brown hair, and he's played by the blond Matthias Schweighöfer here.
- Code Name: Marcel takes "Marceau" as resistant pseudonym, hence the origin of his later stage name as a mime.
- During the War: The bulk of the film takes place during World War II.
- Forced to Watch: Elsbeth sees her father being shot to death by SA brownshirts in the streets during the Kristallnacht
in November 1938. - Historical Domain Character: Outside of Marcel Mangel and his family, there's Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie aka "The Butcher of Lyon" (who, outside of organizing round-ups of thousands of Jews, was also infamous for torturing resistant leader Jean Moulin and many others to death) and General George S. Patton (played by Ed Harris).
- La Résistance: Marcel end up joining the French resistance in Limoges in 1942.
