Resistance [Blu-ray]

Based on a novel, this 'what if' historical thriller is set in an alternative 1944 where Britain has been invaded by the Nazis. London has fallen; Birmingham and Manchester are under siege, and German troops are moving through the Welsh valleys to seek out and steal hidden artworks and artefacts. Meanwhile, the men from one valley have left their farms and fields, gone to join the fight, without a word to the women they have left behind to face the Germans and somehow run the farms.

A small party of German soldiers is detached to the area, and their thoughtful, war-weary officer senses an opportunity for a quieter life in rural Wales, away from the brutality of the eastern front. Although his men receive a hostile reception from the women, they gradually become accustomed to each other, and the delineation between cooperation, confrontation and collaboration becomes blurred with increasing familiarity and the simple, shared tasks of day to day life.
With a brilliant set-up like that, this should have been a stunning film. Instead it's curiously stilted and muffled. Iwan Rheon puts in an excellent performance as a young lad indoctrinated to be a resistance fighter, no matter what the personal cost. But his mentor, played by Michael Sheen, makes only a few strangely stunted appearances, and the German characters -- commanding officer apart -- are scarcely given the opportunity to rise above two-dimensional caricatures.
The miserly special features (three miniscule mini-docs and a commentary; no subtitles) reveal part of the problem. Resistance on DVD runs to less than an hour and a half and the book is far longer, and the behind the scenes footage shows that whole story arcs, characters and important scenarios have been hacked out from the final edit.
That's a real shame, because the rest of the film shows genuine promise, an intelligent plot, and it showcases a couple of outstanding performances. But the actions of the protagonists in the rushed conclusion are baffling, incomprehensible and unrewarding. And the whole pace of the film feels wrong: not surprising when you understand that many of the scenes which were intended to denote the passage of time have been snipped, leaving the viewer confused and unsettled.

There are time when less is more, but this wasn't one of those moments.
6/10

Wow. There are films that are dark and depressing and desperate, and then there's this. Slow, almost silent, incredibly bleak - although beautiful at the same time. All the characters are torn and troubled and the actors do a fine job of conveying complex emotions with next to no dialogue. They're all quite magnificent. Although I agree with reviewer Olly Buxton that the most interesting character is Wlaschia's conflicted nazi, Captain Albrecht. On the plus side, it's a film that keeps you guessing until the end because pretty much anything could happen to the central characters, but on the downside, with so little dialogue, I found the ending fairly ambiguous and confusing (I admit, I had to check with my other half that I'd even understood it). Overall, beautiful, sparse and brilliantly acted, but beware of watching it if you're already feeling a little blue. This might push you over the edge.

Resistance [DVD]
'Resistance' is the truly believable story of what could have happened to a group of farmers wives from the mountains of Wales, who suddenly found their lives in peril, as they realise that Britain had lost the Second World War. The Germans were advancing on them and their simple lives. The women had been abandoned by their men, who they presume, have gone off to fight the enemy as resistance fighters. The women are in fear of rape, imprisonment or even worse being sent to concentration camps in Germany. One day, a German patrol suddenly arrives in their valley. The next day, the snow comes down, thus trapping the women and their enemies on the mountain together, with no form of escape from either side.

The women keep a frosty distance, but the German soldiers realise that they too are in a good place and don't want to be sent back to their regiment. So a form of armed neutrality develops as the Germans begin to help the women with their tasks their husbands would normally have performed around the farm. It is cold, very hard work and there is very little food for any of them or their animals.
The film painstakingly explores the depths of feelings felt on either side, thus building a tension which the whole audience feels. Dialogue is sparse. It is all in the feelings, which this film so cleverly develops through beautiful photographic scenery of the Welsh Black Mountains, incorporating rushing rivers, dilapidated stone farm houses, deep snow scenes as well as glorious lighting of the fabulous Llanthony Abbey.

Perhaps more could have been made of the story ? But with Andrea Riseborough and Michael Sheen appearing in this low budget film (what a compliment to have them!) as well as Sharon Morgan's magnificent portrayal of Maggie, the oldest farmer's wife - this leaves you with deep feelings as "This could have happened to us" - "How would we have reacted if we had been put in the same position as the farmers wives?"

Don't expect to see horrors here. But do expect to be moved by the tension and fears that both sides engender. It is a very worthy film, which will be on your mind for weeks after.