Resistance

The romance of melancholy is the best way I can describe the tone.

This dreary film would of been fine if I was looking to feel contemplative on the idea of existence as a whole showing how meaningful it is through single life and the glorification of the mundane interaction that such a singular life must undertake. But I was not looking for that. I felt mislead by the description, it would be perfectly fine and enjoyable if this was what I wanted.

That being said the discussion of the humans condition being consistence (and repetitive) regardless of cultural differences is some what over done these days. It is a notion that needs to evolve in its functional use for story telling. Hopefully where it is not longer the core of a story but an assumed trait perhaps. This is only a personal preference though and I acknowledge that not everyone thinks it is an trope that has become unreasonably popular.

A fairly interesting premise, and a story that might have been far more interesting if I didn't find myself having to switch on my superpower sense of hearing to make sense of the irritating mumbling between the characters.

Of course, no sooner had I upped the volume the music started playing - an eardrum-throbbing violin.

The net result was that I found myself spending more time playing with the volume buttons on the remote control than I did watching the film - a shame as it was on the whole pretty atmospheric.

I couldn't see the point of the Michael Sheen character, but the German Hauptmann was quietly convincing - if perhaps a little too quiet when he was not speaking German.

I bought the film, because I was curious about it. I like war films, and this sounded different from the others. And why some of the critics were good,and others put the film completely down? I knew Tom Wlaschiha from Game of Thrones and so many people had a very good opinion about is job. So I had to see it. And I am not disappointed. It's a film about emotions, relationship that shows the human side of people in such a devastating scenario that was the WWII. It makes us think. It makes us believe that people in certain circumstances, can join forces and work together. We don't need to see fights, people being killed, because that we had seen a lot. So, don't criticize so hard this film, because it deserves consideration. You can also read the book of Owen Sheers. Maybe some of the people will understand it better.It has o low budget. What's the problem? There are so many Hollywood films that don't deserve the money spent. I give my congratulations to the lead cast, because they are fabulous.

Even in the most English parts of Wales you can't understand them for their welsh lint and singalong voices. Also, the story was lacking any bite. And the plot holes are too many.

Having read and enjoyed the novel I decided to rent this movie, but while awaiting delivery I read all the reviews I could find. A very high proportion of these user reviews, both on IMDb and elsewhere, described a film that was totally boring, a complete waste of time, had nothing to do with resistance and was generally pointless.

All I can say in reply to these reviews is that films about war are not necessarily about violence, gunfire and cruelty. Put briefly, this film is a gentle story set in a beautiful Welsh valley, a tale of frightened farmer's wives left mysteriously without their menfolk, a group of German soldiers traumatised by war, an expression of human feeling and resistance to war in many and varied ways. If this doesn't appeal to you, then watch Rambo! If, however, you are a sensitive soul with a belief in human goodness, then watch this film and enjoy it! My only gripe is that I found the dialogue a little hard to follow - and there are no subtitles. Having said that, I accepted this difficulty and found that it didn't really affect my pleasure - the film doesn't rely heavily on dialogue. All-in-all a most enjoyable film and one that I will watch again - it certainly helped to hear the director's commentary on the DVD.