What if the Germans had won the war? It’s a question that’s plagued hacky science-fiction and historical novel writers since…well, the Germans didn’t win the war, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be the source of compelling fiction. Philip K Dick‘s masterpiece “The Man In The High Castle” is a good example, or Robert Harris‘ gripping thriller “Fatherland,” while the cinematic high watermark is probably the underseen 1966 British film “It Happened Here.” It’s been a while since the sub-genre made it to screens, but The Guardian yesterday brought us a trailer for a new example from the U.K., the thriller “Resistance.”
Based on an acclaimed novel by poet Owen Sheers, it supposes a series of events following the failure of the D-Day invasions, and a subsequent counter-invasion of Great Britain by the Germans. In a remote Welsh village, the men have disappeared to join the Resistance, leaving only the women. When a German patrol arrives to occupy the village, one of them, Sarah (“W.E.” star Andrea Riseborough) falls for one of the enemy (Tom Wlaschiha of “Brideshead Revisited“), at the risk of being denounced as a collaborator.
We have to confess the film had been under our radar, but the trailer looks pretty solid. The supporting cast includes Michael Sheen, Kimberley Nixon and “Misfits” star Iwan Rheon, and first-time director Amit Gupta looks to have wrung some decent production value out of what was likely a fairly meager budget. But we’ve got one concern here. The film hits in only a couple of months, but it surprisingly wasn’t selected for the BFI London Film Festival, which normally would be a perfect launching pad in the U.K. for something like this. An oversight? Or a sign that it’s a well-cut trailer and little else? We’ll find out when Metrodome releases the film in the U.K. on November 25th.
