Alicia Veliz – Guest Writer
This film commemorates the anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, the largest Resistance uprising in German-occupied Europe during WWII. The Resistance Fighter relates the true story of the Polish war hero Jan Nowak-Jeziorański. He was a Polish journalist who served as an emissary between the commanders of Poland’s resistance movement and the Polish government in exile in London at the height of WWII.
Hunted by all the Axis Powers’ secret services, he is smuggled out of Poland on a mission to make his way to London with information that would decide the fate of the war. He was eventually given the nickname “The Courier from Warsaw” and for his bravery he was granted the Virtuti Militari, the highest Polish military medal.
I really enjoy films based on true stories especially when it comes to highlighting real life heroes without all the superpowers. This is a clear case of one man making a huge difference. This war time thriller will have you on the edge of your seat.
It is intriguing to see the politics that took place behind the war. Unfortunately, Poland became something of a bargaining chip during the World War and they suffered greatly after the Warsaw Uprising. It began on August 1, 1944 and the main objectives was to drive the Germans out of Warsaw whilst helping the Allies to defeat Germany. But it became absolutely imperative that Poland be liberated before the Soviets’ Offensive reached Warsaw because the Polish Underground State were determined to free Poland under Polish sovereignty, which would be governed by capitalist views rather than the Soviet-backed Polish Committee gaining control. If Poland were to be liberated by the Soviets, they would assume a Socialist control backed by Russia’s Stalin. The Uprising lasted 65 days and unfortunately 85 per cent of the city of Warsaw was destroyed and between 150,000-200,000 civilians were killed from mass executions before the Germans were forced to leave.
There is a sense of urgency and desperation to help your country regain control under its rightful powers rather than being governed by an external body and have your entire way of life changed because they felt like you owe them one. Phillippe Tlokinski plays Jan Nowak-Jeziorański and he is excellent and charismatic as the Polish war-time hero. He commands a presence that literally has your eyes glued to the screen in order to see how he manages to arrive at his destination whilst having the Nazis nipping at his heels across Europe trying to stop him from delivering an important message.
My eyes were opened during this film to see that even though the Allies tried working together in order to liberate Europe from Nazi occupation, there were a lot events occurring in the background politically that tended to manipulate the outcome of certain situations. It was very educational, and I got to learn the name of another WWII hero. I became inspired to do a lot of reading to learn more on the subject of the film and I hope that it would do the same for you guys because I think that it is important to learn of the past because without it there is no future.
Hope you guys feel inspired by this review and get to check this movie out. Feel free to comment and please hit the like button to show your support.
Rating: 7.5/10
For my review of Jessie Eisenberg World War II film Resistance you can click here. And for more of my content you can check out my Facebook page Dark Alice Reviews.