The Times of Israel
Marcel Mangel (1923–2007) was born in Strasbourg, son of kosher butcher Charles Mangel (Karl Markovics). Marcel already dreamed of being a serious comic actor like his hero Charlie Chaplin, but his dad was not happy.
Recently I saw the 2020 film Resistance which depicted the remarkable prewar and wartime career of mime legend Marcel Marceau by actor Jesse Eisenberg. Helping many Jewish children and adults escape Nazi-occupied France was a notable WW2 event, but there was much uncertainty regarding the film amongst the critics.
In 1938-9, when Resistance was set, Marcel Mangel was just 15, 20 years younger than Eisenberg. He had not yet adopted his stage name or career, yet this exciting chapter of his life made for a fresh entry point to WW2 history.
The action was to be narrated in flashback by General George Patton (Ed Harris) as he addressed US troops who had just liberated France in late 1944. He told them the man’s story, noting Marceau was one of France’s most amazing civilian heroes. How amazing that Gen Patton would have publicly celebrated a young French teen?
The Venezuelan director Jonathan Jakubowicz opened Resistance with an event that defined that film. It was Kristallnacht in 1938, and an Orthodox German Jew was trying to comfort his scared young daughter. Hitler was blaming Jews for the suffering of the working class the father answered, before the Gestapo burst in to kill him.
As noted, Marceau had already been a young Chaplin fan who used his flair for comedy and mime to warm the hearts of the French orphans. There was plenty of resistance action in the film eg a tense meeting on a train between Marceau and the brutal, icy Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (Matthias Schweighöfer). Marceau posed as a choirmaster, teaching his children on the train to sing the Catholic prayer, Ave Maria. Barbie was a truly evil man, so he destroyed a lot of France as the sadistic Butcher of Lyon.
After Barbie realised his soldiers had been defeated by the mime, he rounded up half a dozen clowns full costume, lined them up in a public swimming pool and executed them. Whether this event actually happened or not, the darkness Marceau must have grappled with post-war was miserable. Nonetheless the grand finale scene, where Marceau actually returned to the spotlight and used his talents to safeguard the children, was essential.
Early in the film, Marcel described himself as not good with children. Yet he was uniquely suited to entertaining them, especially with his improvisational nature. Marceau’s ability to create realities out of thin air was a very useful talent when he was hiding from the Nazis. So Marcel did his best to teach the kids, as they made their way over the country.
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Jesse Eisenberg as Marcel Marceau
Some critics thought the film should have travelled more directly to freedom, rather than tripping up with excess Holocaust film motifs. But I thought Jakubowicz wanted to explain the events to a wide, modern audience that may have known very little about the Holocaust.
Well re-created in the Czech Republic, the story actually took place in occupied France where normal citizens informed on neighbours in exchange for meagre foods, and where Marcel’s older brother Alain (Felix Moati) was active in the French Resistance. Happily the film displayed depth with Angelo Milli’s string score.
It was an ambitious project for Jakubowicz. But because the director used Marceau as just one character, he should have focused much more on the rare but inspiring case where lives were spared. Of course Eisenberg’s antic performance as French mime Marcel Marceau was the best part of the film, but I would have liked to see more of the young hero. Read the Jim Schembri review.
Conclusion
Uncomfortable to begin with, Eisenberg closely resembled the famous mime and dedicated to learning basic routines. He showed how Marceau spread joy to grieving children.
How did Marceau get into the Jewish Boy Scouts and worked with the French Resistance? Drawn from research and interviews with Marceau’s real cousin, Jewish Boy Scouts leader Georges Loinger (Géza Röhrig) told the story. "Organising a scouting camp for Jewish children, Georges & the Save the Children Foundation paid a fortune to divert Jewish orphans from the camps to an empty castle on the other side of the border. Georges showed up to tell Marcel about Save the Children Foundation. Marcel went for a day, and found a rapt audience for his spontaneous pantomime. Watching Marcel change the orphans’ lair into a funhouse was the first joy these children saw, since their parents were killed.
Few audiences in 2020 know that Marceau helped many orphaned children escape the Nazis before he became a professional mime, but Jakubowicz only used the fact as the peg for a broad war saga about the Jewish Resistance in France. Marceau emerged as cute and awkwardish before the Nazis invaded. But since Marceau really was the legendary performer who helped Jews escape the Nazis, Eisenberg played him very honestly. After all Marceau did realise his gifts had a practical application when making kids feel comfortable in a nightmare situation.
Eisenberg’s idea was that Marcel belonged to the resistance movement, partly because a fellow resistance fighter, Emma (Clemence Poesy), had courage that outstripped his own. Watching Marcel perform a silent routine for Emma, ending by producing a paper flower for her, was memorable.
Few audiences in 2020 know that Marceau helped many orphaned children escape the Nazis before he became a professional mime, but Jakubowicz only used the fact as the peg for a broad war saga about the Jewish Resistance in France. Marceau emerged as cute and awkwardish before the Nazis invaded. But since Marceau really was the legendary performer who helped Jews escape the Nazis, Eisenberg played him very honestly. After all Marceau did realise his gifts had a practical application when making kids feel comfortable in a nightmare situation.
Eisenberg’s idea was that Marcel belonged to the resistance movement, partly because a fellow resistance fighter, Emma (Clemence Poesy), had courage that outstripped his own. Watching Marcel perform a silent routine for Emma, ending by producing a paper flower for her, was memorable.
Some critics thought the film should have travelled more directly to freedom, rather than tripping up with excess Holocaust film motifs. But I thought Jakubowicz wanted to explain the events to a wide, modern audience that may have known very little about the Holocaust.
Well re-created in the Czech Republic, the story actually took place in occupied France where normal citizens informed on neighbours in exchange for meagre foods, and where Marcel’s older brother Alain (Felix Moati) was active in the French Resistance. Happily the film displayed depth with Angelo Milli’s string score.
It was an ambitious project for Jakubowicz. But because the director used Marceau as just one character, he should have focused much more on the rare but inspiring case where lives were spared. Of course Eisenberg’s antic performance as French mime Marcel Marceau was the best part of the film, but I would have liked to see more of the young hero. Read the Jim Schembri review.
Dying in 2007, Marceau was the world’s most famous mime. The film has since increased his fame.
Conclusion
Uncomfortable to begin with, Eisenberg closely resembled the famous mime and dedicated to learning basic routines. He showed how Marceau spread joy to grieving children.