Jesse Eisenberg, as French mime Marcel Marceau, in 'Resistance'.
Jesse Eisenberg, as French mime Marcel Marceau, in 'Resistance'.
Jesse Eisenberg, as French mime Marcel Marceau, in 'Resistance'.
Jesse Eisenberg, as French mime Marcel Marceau, in 'Resistance'.

'Resistance': Jesse Eisenberg's new film celebrates Marcel Marceau's war heroism


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Marcel Marceau, the most famous mime in modern history, was a hero – but you'd never have heard it from him. Beloved across the world for his devotion to "the art of silence", as he called it, Marceau's influence was so far reaching that he directly inspired the dance of Michael Jackson, one of his biggest fans. 

Before his art touched the lives of people worldwide, Marceau was a courageous member of the French Resistance against Nazi occupation during the Second World War, risking his life to shepherd more than 100 orphans to safety in Switzerland, something the artist rarely talked about publicly later in life. 

This movie, in a way, provided me with a link to my past and a link to my culture

Resistance, a new film directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz and starring Oscar-nominee Jesse Eisenberg, brings to life Marceau's heroism for the first time. While there is a rich library of films that cover the Holocaust, Resistance is a personal one for Eisenberg for a number of reasons. He tells The National that diving into this subject matter was an emotional marathon during every day of filming, one he couldn't switch off from when he went home of an evening.

“I lost a lot of family in the war in Poland, and my wife lost family in the war. Her family escaped to Russia, so they lost family that stayed behind … You try to have some link to that part of history because it feels like it’s shaped your culture so terribly.

“This movie, in a way, provided me with a link to my past and a link to my culture, and a link to my grandparents and cousins who all died so horribly. There’s no way to feel anything but horrified by it, but little things like doing a movie about it, in a way, gives me a link to it,” Eisenberg says.

French mime artist Marcel Marceau. Getty Images
French mime artist Marcel Marceau. Getty Images

The star wasn’t familiar with Marceau’s work before he began working on the project, but his mother was. In fact, she was a birthday party clown throughout his childhood, who modelled her make-up on the mime artist's, going to see him perform live multiple times. To play Marceau, Eisenberg had to work with mime coach Lorin Eric Salm, one of the late mime's students, who based the film’s choreography on Marceau’s actual routines.

“Like most things, it was really frustrating at first, and then really wonderful. I’m not flexible or agile, but over the course of months, it became something that I loved that I would do without thinking. I would unconsciously practice balancing my weight on one side or doing a certain kind of gesture with my hands. It became one of these wonderful things that I now incorporate into the things that I’ve learnt in my life that are only good for a three-month period of shooting a movie, but that you have affection for later. I have a baby and I incorporate it into the many things that I do to distract or entertain him. He likes it!” he says.

Eisenberg doesn’t know for sure why Marceau didn’t like talking about the lives he saved. “It seems to me that he didn’t want to take credit when it should have been shared. At a time like that, there’s so much heroism, there’s so much tragedy, and there’s so much evil. Maybe he felt that he was one of many, rather than singular,” he says.

It's easy to draw parallels to the way people are responding to Covid-19, with so many heroes on the front line who don't want to be treated individually as heroes. Perhaps, too, it was his initial resistance to the call to heroism that Marceau may have felt guilty about, the same way many do now – a human reaction that the mime artist eventually rose above.

“When the war began, he didn’t know how severe it would become, so he was trying to maintain normalcy, the same way that we are at the onset of this virus. He was reluctant to change his schedule, the same way we were reluctant to change our schedule because of a virus we don’t know the future of.”

'Resistance' releases digitally on Saturday, April 11 iTunes, Google Play, beIN On Demand and OSN Store, as well as all local platforms including du, Etisalat E-Vision, Ooredoo, Vodafone and OmanTel

Martin Sabbagh profile

Job: CEO JCDecaux Middle East

In the role: Since January 2015

Lives: In the UAE

Background: M&A, investment banking

Studied: Corporate finance

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Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

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What: Brazil v South Korea
When: Tonight, 5.30pm
Where: Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae

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Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

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On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

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21 Lessons for the 21st Century

Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
 

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Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

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Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Timeline

1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line

1962
250 GTO is unveiled

1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company

1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens

1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made

1987
F40 launched

1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent

2002
The Enzo model is announced

2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi

2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled

2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives

2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company

2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street

2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary

Royal Birkdale Golf Course

Location: Southport, Merseyside, England

Established: 1889

Type: Private

Total holes: 18

The specs: 2018 Opel Mokka X

Price, as tested: Dh84,000

Engine: 1.4L, four-cylinder turbo

Transmission: Six-speed auto

Power: 142hp at 4,900rpm

Torque: 200Nm at 1,850rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L / 100km

The Details

Kabir Singh

Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series

Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga

Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa

Rating: 2.5/5 

War and the virus
Honeymoonish
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Padmaavat

Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh

3.5/5

England World Cup squad

Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wkt), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

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Destroyer

Director: Karyn Kusama

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Toby Kebbell, Sebastian Stan

Rating: 3/5 

UAE release: January 31 

THE BIO:

Favourite holiday destination: Thailand. I go every year and I’m obsessed with the fitness camps there.

Favourite book: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. It’s an amazing story about barefoot running.

Favourite film: A League of their Own. I used to love watching it in my granny’s house when I was seven.

Personal motto: Believe it and you can achieve it.

if you go

Getting there

Etihad (Etihad.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and Air France (www.airfrance.com) fly to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively. Return flights cost from around Dh3,785. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Paris to Compiègne by train, with return tickets costing €19. The Glade of the Armistice is 6.6km east of the railway station.

Staying there

On a handsome, tree-lined street near the Chateau’s park, La Parenthèse du Rond Royal (laparenthesedurondroyal.com) offers spacious b&b accommodation with thoughtful design touches. Lots of natural woods, old fashioned travelling trunks as decoration and multi-nozzle showers are part of the look, while there are free bikes for those who want to cycle to the glade. Prices start at €120 a night.

More information: musee-armistice-14-18.fr ; compiegne-tourisme.fr; uk.france.fr

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

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Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

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Price: From Dh149,900

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