The Resistance Fighter (2019) User Reviews

A necessary reminder of the way the Poles were treated by the Germans, Russians and British

[banjofred-414-79873 · 7/10 · 2 January 2020]

We had a treaty with Poland, we went to war due to that treaty. We then deserted them due to the agreement with Stalin.

We could at least have supplied some arms ammunition and a little support. The Russians waited outside Warsaw until the Germans killed the poles, then subjected them to decades of subjugation. I visited Gdansk once, the lady on the cheap card table inside the Cathedral collecting small donations for candles said what the germans didn't take, the Russians took. The cathedral was bare. The reviewer here says why pour salt on old wounds. Never Forgive, Never Forget !! Let others forgive, we must constantly remind the Germans of their actions - not "Nazis" but Germans

The Japanese rewrote history despite the US ruling presence. Dont let Europe forget the Germans evil acts.

an excellent film.

bad spy

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 16 April 2021]

It's 1944 and Poland is under brutal German occupation. In London, Jan Nowak-Jezioranski is a Free Poland soldier acting as a courier between the Polish government in London and the resistance in his home country. The Allies have decided that Poland shall be under Soviet control after the war. Jan is to deliver a message to stop the impending uprising.

In this movie, Jan is a horrible spy/courier. He is too impulsive and so pushy as to stand out in a crowd. The girl is too obvious at the moment of the party. Her reveal loses some of the shock. There is a difficulty with the story in that the history is well known. The question is how to generate any tension from his mission when the end is already written. I almost want the execution scene. It does settle on an internal conflict within Jan but it's not set up at all. Despite all that, there are moments of great emotional drama like the old farmer lady. There are some tension with some of the pursuit like the train. Those little moments elevate this war drama despite its various issues.

A masterpiece? Not, but...

[tecnodata · 7/10 · 9 May 2021]

.. Not as bad as the rating shown by Imdb.

A technically non-sophisticated movie, the director is clearly not going to be remembered for this but it still worthy of a couple of hours of one's time at least to remind us all of the plight of Poland caught, like often before, in the vice grips of larger, predatory countries.

The narrating style could be assimilated to the cartoons that were in vogue after WWII, a sequence of pictures/events trying to capture the various moments of a story without the fluent narration that we could easily expect now but still a solid 7 stars, for both sympathy to the cause and people but also for highlighting an episode of the enormous sacrifice that the Poles suffered.

makes one think about current events

[gwrobelxx · 2 October 2022]

Will the USA & West stay committed to the Ukraine or float into betrayal once again? Hopefully we'll find the courage and honor to stay the course and not let Putin (aka "hitler") have his way. Should our support dwindle and allow Putin to succeed then we certainly will have the opportunity to watch history repeat itself as he will continue to "annex" parts of yet other now independent countries. Such action will likely draw Poland into military action and on their brave coattails we will find ourselves in direct evolvement in this current conflict. Regardless of mixed reviews all need to be aware of the depth of pain our betrayal caused so that we don't do it yet again.

Class B War Adventure

[dodajcos · 6/10 · 17 May 2021]

If someone likes movies from that time and wants to relax, this can be.

Makes this 1940 Katyn Massacre researcher/activist ask questions

[elcoat · 6/10 · 1 June 2023]

My Western Illinois Univ. History masters thesis about the 1940 Katyn Massacre as a - the - Cold War (ending) issue is free for anyone to read up on ibiblio.

(It was Truth which brought down the Soviet regime, not mere economics. Stalin never let those get in his way. Ask any kulak. Oh. Wait.) In 1989 under Polish communist general Jaruzelski, the Polish Army was ready to fight the Red Army, and the Russians - tired of being the bad guys and considering the Eastern Europeans to be just trouble - did not invade, the credibility of external Soviet terror collapsed, the Warsaw Pact members freed themselves, and the Soviet regime fell.

(In 1986 after her talk at our Juneau Alaska World Affairs Conference, I got President Bush1's go-to kremlinologist Martha Mautner to admit that the truth about Katyn *could* bring the Soviet regime down, and then she asked me ... concerned about what would happen to the Russian people, I believe ... "What then?" And as we can see after all our broken post-Soviet promises to the Russians, she was right.)

This film portrays the anti-communist and anti-Russian Poles fighting for their postwar independence by trying stage an anti-Nazi insurrection - the Warsaw Uprising - to create the Free Polish government in Warsaw, not just over in London, before the Red Army can get there.

The film seems to claim that Churchill had already conceded Poland to Stalin and did not want the uprising. And realistically the British had far less of a chance to help the Poles in August 1944 than they did in September 1939 (by with the French attacking Germany in the west), but the Poles were desperate, justifiably fearing Soviet occupation after the Katyn and other NKVD massacres.

(When the Uprising started, the British did to their credit try to get some supplies into Warsaw by air, but it was hopeless. If Hitler had had any sense by this point in the war, he would have made a big show of suppressing the Uprising but *not* doing so, to enable an independent Polish government to be created.)

So this film depicts the machinations of a charismatic if air-headed young Don Quixote to get a doomed Uprising started ... with hindsight quite stubbornly and stupidly.

And Europeans *can* be quite stubbornly stupid as we are seeing right now with the tragedy in Ukraine right now. They are prisoners of the past ... which they glorify with films exactly like this.

The actors in the film did an excellent job, portraying their characters, by the way, and if you don't realize the overall absurdity and tragedy of what is happening, the film can be very entertaining and absorbing.

The final moment where the - cold-bloodedly ruthless - dying SS officer recognizes the "Christmas tree" girl ... he obviously had fallen in love with ... was poignant.

In a hurry, yet will slow down for anything.

[swordmccloud · 3/10 · 12 June 2021]

This could have been great. But it focuses on so many things that don't add to the story. It would seem he is supposed to be in a rush, but he takes forever to do certain things. Why spend the effort to get the plane out? This only would allow nazis to catch up. Apparently he can't ride a bike. So let's spend time learning a bike. Why did the woman not say her son was dead, why did the nazis not check the attic? Lots of unanswered questions. This was a lot entrusted to a LT. Again I believe the true story would have been good. This added to many things that call into question the realism of this account.

Worth watching

[gourami-55770 · 6/10 · 8 March 2022]

The acting was quite good, and there were a few really good plot twists with plenty of suspense. It is sad how Poland was treated as a pawn by the "super powers" who were supposed to be allies. This is definitely worth watching, and for a change the English translation was well done.

O Tannenbaum

[nogodnomasters · 5/10 · 12 August 2019]

Poland is occupied by the Germans in 1944. Jan Nowak-Jezioranski (Philippe Tlokinski ) is a courier between Warsaw and London. The Russian army is approaching and Warsaw is awaiting word from Churchill who sold Poland out to the Russians.

Decent war drama, although there was no real climax or Disney ending.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

Very poor and pointless!

[d-bleny · 4/10 · 9 August 2020]

I don't really understand the point of this movie, the main character is helpless, he wants to stop the insurection but don't succeed at anything, others want it to start, germans seem to be idle about it although they cleverly manipulate him, at last the whole thing puffs and deflates as a soufflé and the very bad SS who killed civilians dies singing "o Tannenbaum.." Ridiculous.

surprisingly good

[munich1972 · 8/10 · 1 September 2020]

Other reviews of this film have been pretty negative but I was surprised how good it was. In the vain of "Max Manus" and "The Black Book" two great war films about the resistance "The Resistance Fighter" is actually about a Polish soldier sent back to Poland from England to deliver messages to the Polish Home Army. The germans are slowly retreating from Poland while the russians are advancing on Poland from the east. I really liked the main character Lt. Jan Nowak-Jezioranski who is the courier sent back to Poland while trying to evade getting captured or killed by the germans. I thought the dialogue and subtitles were well done in this film and the plot moves swiftly as the Lt. is pursued by a german spy who wishes to make contact with the underground and convince them the invading russians are their real enemy. Lt. Jan is tough and capable and the action scenes are well done here. Their is a sad history lesson at the end of this film that some reviewers have said shouldn't be discussed anymore but I disagree. I had low expectations of this film going in but was very pleasantly surprised and glad I purchased it on Amazon.

Niles from Frasier goes to war ~ not

[rtb-34633 · 1/10 · 10 May 2021]

Awful. The lead actor looks like Niles Crane from Frasier and is just as hapless. Tripe from start to finish. Better to think of it as a Mr Bean style comedy than history.

Sound Check

[sqdn · 3/10 · 8 August 2020]

Overall the movie was great except for the sound. Voices were so low, the sound had to be turned way up.

1.5 hours wasted unnecessarily

[ozsuzersedat · 4/10 · 29 April 2021]

I look with the eyes of the audience ... 1.5 hours wasted unnecessarily .... scenario and acting have remained weak .... viewed for the sake of visuality.

Wonderfully done

[Luigi Di Pilla · 8/10 · 9 May 2021]

It was a great surprise and I recommend to see it to anyone who is interested in history of Second World War. The sceneries and locations are wonderful executed and the cinematography was of very high quality. There are many twists and suspense moments that I never got bored. I don't understand the low ratings here. Kurier is too underrated and merits great attention. All the actors delivered a great job and compliments to the director.8/10.

Très beau film !!

[matthieupannier · 10/10 · 14 May 2022]

Very interesting story of this man who had in fact a long life and great career.

Superbly filmed and detailed with a great casting on each side, true to each language and costumes.

Not enough good reviews about it that's a shame, people prefer horror and stupidity instead of heroes and patriots.

Impressive ! WOW.

[gabriella-71231 · 10/10 · 14 May 2022]

Incredibly well filmed. The storyline, events and characters brought an intensity to the film, I had my nose to the screen! This historical event and it's players in history brought back to life on screen I found intensely fascinating. Brilliant movie. Not sure why anyone would think otherwise. It takes an impressive effort to put a story like this together and WOW factor direction and acting. Highly recommend !

An overall excellent historical movie....

[bmynars · 9/10 · 7 August 2019]

I was born and lived in Poland until I was 22. Then, in 1989 I left just before the fall of the Berlin wall. This movie presented me with a part of Polish WWII history that was never taught to me by either the socialist state or here in the West, our "allies". This movie makes you think "what if.." and presents a part of history which could be considered by some taboo, something we should not speak of.

The truth is Poland was used as pawn in WWI, promised alliance by the West (twice) and then, abandoned to Soviets when the Polish problem became inconvenient to deal with Stalin. As I said, many "what ifs" were brought by this film in my mind and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who wants to know more beyond the established "history".

Movie I was waiting for

[mateuszblaszczyk · 10/10 · 17 March 2019]

I would give 8 stars to that movie just for a choice of topic - allies cowardly betrayal of Poland in WWII.

Finally public institutions DID made marketable movie showing real bare history. Not to much pathos, great action with shotouts and cutthroats, intrique, no akward actors.

I just regret that in the end they didnt show full extent of consequences of allies betrayal.

I hope that IPN and other will continue to make such a movies.

The long difficult struggle that preceded and set off the Polish insurrection against the Germans

[clanciai · 8/10 · 9 June 2023]

It's a true story of an actual Polish freedom fighter who acted as a courier between London and the Polish resistance under extreme duress and against overwhelming circumstances, but he overcame them all. Sadly and unfortunately there are flaws in the dramaturgy. The most interesting part is his terrible ordeals in getting back to Warsaw through all kinds of impediments, the British in London refusing to support the Polish resistance without consent from the Soviets, everything going wrong on the journey including an airplane getting stuck in the mud, a Swedish agent for the Germans keeping track of him and trying to betray him although he once acted as a real gentleman to her, while a lot of the story is left out. We see very little of the sufferings of the Polish people, Warsaw appears here as totally intact and untouched by the war although the events here occurred after the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto, which never is mentioned by a word, and when at last the uprising begins, we heard nothing more about how it proceeded, how the Soviets betrayed them, the whole war is rather minimalized here, while it is still excellently well filmed and acted, which is why it's a pity they didn't make more of the dramatic elements of the story. It is not like a documentary, but it is rather like a Polish populistic action film concentrating on the effects. There is no psychology, only action and intrigue, no matter how well it is done.

Excellent WWII adventure

[dereklambe · 10/10 · 15 November 2020]

And exciting and realistic movie about the Polish resistance during WWII.

Why pour salt on old wounds?

[czekalowski-50762 · 8/10 · 31 March 2019]

I have to say that I'm surprised by this film. Frankly, I got used to Polish lame cinematography, but suddenly Pasikowski did something up to the mark. Nevertheless shooting scenes look bloody fake, London is shown as a peaceful city - no struggling with war at all! ha! I solemnly hope Polish screenwriters and director will find new topic for films. In my opinion we don't need another war film made just to remind us how bad Nazis were back in the days of World War II.

My Review

[adevet-63841 · 8/10 · 11 December 2023]

If you are into semi-documentary war movies (or rather: Dramatisations), you might want to give this one a watch. Staged in the latter part of WW2 it follows a courier who travels between Poland and England at the risk of his own live. In following his journey we see what the war has done to the people, the atrocities committed by the occupying forces, and the spy-vs-spy games played in this very murky theather of war. The movie spends just enough time to introduce all the key players and sets the stakes, after which you get hurried along an up-and-down path where every actor absolutely exudes the gravitas of the situation. The whole thing is respectfully made, without unnessecary hero-worship but with some light on the ordinary people who did extraordinary things. Loved every minute of it!