The IMDb synopsis is weak and does NOT provide the slightest indication of what this movie is about. I think it's unfair to call this an actual spoiler, since anything anyone takes away from the movie is a simply their best guess.In a nutshell, British men leave a village overnight without leaving any indication as to why to the women they leave behind. German soldiers arrive and they hang out in the villager and help the women over the time they stay. The only resistance they meet is initially overcome by providing support for the women, then they all find out what's going on in the rest of the country and the movie ends - abruptly.This is a empty container of a movie with all the right parts, but unassembled, leaving me with more questions than answers.Many of the reviewers will say it's a movie for those with sophisticated senses, but NONE offer an iota of their speculation as to what was being portrayed...leaving me to think - hogwash - pure speculation.Let me also point out that a good deal of the movie is in German without subtitles and as such you miss a tremendous amount of dialog that otherwise might have shed some light on the intent of the German soldiers or their reactions to situations. Five minute scene in German, no explanations.It WAS a film without the dialogue or intent to nail down any particular message, other than people will try to make the best of a situation...until the situation changes.Spend your time as you will, but don't say you haven't been warned.

I have never been as perplexed by a rating as the low one for this movie. It is a very well made, well acted movie. I look forward to reading the book. Not your typical WWII war movie at all with only a couple of shots fired but probably a much more accurate depiction of what an actual occupation would be like. Ignore the rating and give this a chance. I found myself watching it twice because it is so nuanced I was afraid of missing something. Would have given it a 10 but the captions were strange. If you used the hearing impaired it didn't translate the German dialect which is very important.

This movie was a full blown surprise to me. I wish I heard about it 4 years ago when it came out. I will never understand how shallow and cartoonish movies get all the hype and publicity and a jewel gets left behind on the road. Despite of being very subdued and atmospheric, this movie engages your full attention, 100% of the time. Things aren't explained in so many words, and that's what makes this movie so great. Actors are well picked and give a mesmerizing performance. Two main protagonists are absolutely superb in their roles. The pace of the scenes is just right, even if it's just a scene where a woman is leaning longingly onto her husband's shirt. Or a scene where an enemy soldier who occupied the village stares covetingly at a young woman and his superior asks him if he has sisters. That certainly changes his intentions. Only a complete fool would think this movie is a waste of time! If you need action, watch one of those run-of-the-mill action blockbuster movies and remain grazing peacefully in your comfort zone until the end. It's not a story that is passe for humans. Look at the world we live in. We're still struggling to understand how and why to be brave and selfless. The fool who's written the negative review that pops out first on the movie page, saying that it doesn't have a story reminds me of a child that doesn't understand anything unless you dumb it down to it's level- someone who lacks adult level imagination and capability of abstract thinking. This movie is full of small stories, left for the audience to conjure out of short flashbacks and characters behaviour in the present time. We don't have to know every detail to grasp the choices they are compelled to make, or understand the reasons for their actions. Michael Sheen might have had a short appearance here, but to me, made a point to this story. Our choices in difficult situations determine who we are. (It's true, the movie has a wee bit of a problem with sound, somehow. I had to rewind a couple of times to understand what the actors were saying and lower the volume button when the music suddenly attacked my ears but I completely forgive that, for the otherwise excellent movie experience.)

Here be Spoilers .... . . . . . .Somewhere there's a massive hole that this film fell into. If I can catch the mood of the film in two words it would be:Barren.Still.An interesting 'what if' scenario that is given plenty of time (too much as it turns out)to develop but lacks any inspired input from any source whatsoever. I can't really comment on the acting because the dialogue in the film, thanks to the dreadfully thread bare script, is so scarce that you hardly notice anyone is in fact acting or interacting with anything.The film title is 'Resistance' but where is the resistance? If anything its about passive submission and acceptance - and that submission and acceptance is achieved without any real dialogue, interaction or event.There is no reason to fear the invader and no real reason to refuse their help. There is no tension created although it's hinted at all too briefly, but fades away the moment the three or four words are uttered. Then it's back to bleak rolling Welsh hillside, standing still and not saying anything.The lone Resistance fighter and his mysterious contact are criminally under used and the plot holes are just annoyingly irritating.I read in another review that not all war films are about guns, violence and cruelty. I agree you can create a story in the backdrop of war that doesn't have to have these elements physically in your eye line, but as they are all key facets of what War actually is all about then pretending they don't exist is ridiculous. Are we to accept that a German unit can disappear off the map? that Teutonic ordered efficiency just stopped being a part of the German war machine the moment they reached Wales? That after taking such risks to hide themselves that they would risk it all for an agricultural show? No. These were desperately silly plot points.Oh, there's also some bizarre sub plot line about a map. None of that made any sense whatsoever. Maybe a fan of the book could enlighten me, but it's inclusion in the movie seemed to be to pin together a few very thin and tenuous plot lines and let the sound man get over excited with a stabby staccatto violin piece (creating a rare moment in the movie where you actually think something may happen here!....but it doesn't...). The best and worst aspect of the film though was the ending. Best because it ended (hurrah) and worst because it just leaves you sat there wandering...what was that?