Uprising

Thanks to Andrzej Wajda's World War II trilogy -- especially 1957's Kanal -- I feel like I've got a better grasp of the Warsaw Ghetto and the Warsaw uprising of 1944. Watch enough WWII movies and read enough books about the war and you're going to hear about the Warsaw Ghetto because of the immensity of the place and the thousands of people who lived there.  But it is a part of history and WWII that so often gets lost in the background, overshadowed by major campaigns and important players in the war. Part of that you can chalk up to a story that in its historical accuracy is not going to appeal to the masses.

The Polish take on the Ghetto is one thing, but in a bigger picture Holocaust movies are going to find success in niches among audience members. An NBC TV miniseries originally shown in 2011, Uprising is one of the few ventures into the true story of the Warsaw Ghetto and the subsequent uprising in 1944 as the Polish Jews rebelled against their German occupiers. Like so many war stories, there will be no happy ending, and that's part of the appeal to me. It's honest, it's depressing, and it tells a story that couldn't be faked.  There are historical inaccuracies, generalizations made for the sake of time and simplicity, but the heart of the story works, and that's the most important thing.

It's 1939 and Adolf Hitler's Germany army sweeps across Poland, forcing a surrender within a month. In Warsaw, over 350,000 Polish Jews are forced to move into a ghetto where they are kept apart from the city at large in a walled-off portion of the city under German guard. Among the thousands of Jews is Mordechai Anielewicz (Hank Azaria), a musician and teacher, and Antek (David Schwimmer), an intellectual and long-time friend of Mordechai. The months turn into years and both men -- among thousands of other people -- grow tired of their German occupiers while the head of the Jewish council, Adam Czerniakow (Donald Sutherland), struggles to fight for the rights of the Jews. A Jewish resistance mounts in the city to fight off the German soldiers, but the German high command sends an officer, General Jurgen Stoop (Jon Voight), into Warsaw to wipe out the rebellion to a man.

Generally historically accurate with a few detours here and there toward poetic license, Uprising at its best gets the heart and message right. The Polish Jews were not alone in their efforts as is shown, receiving help from outside forces into the Polish underground.  The point of the story though was to show the bravery, the courage, and the persistence shown by the Polish Jews in the face of almost certain defeat.  Heavily outnumbered, under-supplied and fighting a losing battle, the resistance fought on for over 40 days before finally being overrun and ultimately defeated.  Courage is one thing, but maintaining that courage when staring death in the face takes it to a whole other level.  They fought on when they could have abandoned the cause. Thousands paid for that decision with their lives, digging their heels in and fighting back.

The TV miniseries isn't as popular as it was in the late 1970s and 1980s, but it is still that great middle ground between an hour-long TV show and a feature film.  A positive you can always take away is the ability to assemble strong casts for more speaking roles than you might see in a typical movie. Uprising may not have the star quality, but the cast turns in solid, all-around performances. Azaria and Schwimmer are the leads, stepping up to the plate as the resistance leaders.  Among the other resistance fighters are Leelee Sobieski as a young woman, the last surviving member of her family, Stephen Moyer as Kazik, the jokester, fighter and ladies man to go with Sadie Frost, Radha Mitchell, Eric Lively, Alexandra Holden, John Ales, and Andy Nyman as a Jewish police officer working with the resistance. Sutherland and Voight have parts that are cameos more than major parts with Cary Elwes playing a German filmmaker making a documentary about the Ghetto.

With the exception of the premium cable channels, TV can be censored within an inch of its life. My worry going in to this miniseries was exactly that, a story of a part of the Holocaust that would be as vanilla and boring as humanly possible.  No worries here because this miniseries did not pull any punches.  The story is dark, filthy and cynical. The firefights back and forth are bloody and surprisingly graphic for a show aired on national TV. Not just blood for the sake of blood either, the battles are moving. You see the characters develop and change over the course of years. At times, the portrayals are a little much, making the Poles the saintly individuals with no flaws and the Germans as the sadistic, irredeemable pigs. It's a little stereotypical, but the portrayal of the Germans wasn't too far-fetched. It doesn't feel like a miniseries though, and that's always a good thing.

Clocking in at just under three hours, director Jon Avnet manages to cram five years worth of story into 177 minutes. For the most part, he does a good job balancing it out, spending a half hour or so establishing everything and then quickly jumping right into the resistance effort and eventually the Warsaw Uprising.  The pacing is good, always moving along and always entertaining. There are only a few instances where things feel rushed, but one of them ends up being a major flaw. The explanation is going to have some major SPOILERS though so be forewarned.

The uprising eventually turns toward the Germans as the resistance is eventually overwhelmed. Azaria's Mordechai and the remaining members of his company are cornered in an underground bunker while others narrowly escape into the ruined streets above. Sobieski's Tosia leads an escape while the others await the German attack. The only problem? We don't see it...at all.  There's not even a flashback of the attack, a quick montage, a couple shots of their dead bodies much less the actual attack. Azaria is the main character yet he's dispatched off-screen with no explanation. Was the movie running too long? Was something cut? He deserved better, and it seems like a missed effort. As a tribute to the character and the resistance, I feel like as a viewer we needed to see these valiant freedom fighters in their last ditch effort.

It's nothing by any means that derails the movie, just a complaint. The ending is a downer, but with a touch of an uplifting note.  As heavy as the casualties were on both sides in the uprising, there were Polish Jew survivors, just not many. Not always spot-on in terms of accuracy, Uprising still manages to get the message across, the spirit of the Polish resistance.  An underrated, well-handled miniseries dealing with one of history's generally forgotten tragic chapters.

Uprising <---Youtube clips (2001): ***/****

The Code

Usually when I see a straight to DVD movie, I try and steer clear of it. But every so often, I see one that catches my eye with some unlikely casting or a worthwhile story. I thought The Code might qualify in both categories with Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas as the leads in a heist movie. After an interesting start, this one derailed in a big way about halfway through.

Looking for one last big score to settle a debt with the Russian mob, infamous art thief Keith Ripley (Freeman) recruits another master thief, Gabriel Martin (Banderas), to help him out. To settle his debt, Ripley must steal two Faberge eggs worth $20 million apiece from a well-guarded Russian jeweler's fortress of a vault. To get the job done, Ripley and Gabriel must get past obstacles that include voice and fingerprint recognition, highly sensitive motion sensors, heavily-armed guards and a vault that closes on its own if open too long. Their plan progresses smoothly until Gabriel ends up with Ripley's goddaughter, Alex (Radha Mitchell), with the mobsters finding out about their relationship. All the while, Ripley's long-time nemesis on the NYPD, Lt. Weber (Robert Forster), is hot on their trail.

If you're like me, that sounds promising but something doesn't translate in the execution. The build-up to the heist works although it is a bit rushed, and the heist itself works for the most part. There's a couple 'what the f*ck?' moments that I'm still not sure on, but those were the least of my worries. What is disappointing is that the script is conscious of past heist movies as Ripley and Gabriel discuss Rififi and Topkapi with Gabriel even mentioning he only watches heist movies. But it never delivers, and thanks to some stupid twists in the last half hour I came away with a bad taste from The Code.

With heist/robbery movies, it's pretty much assumed that some twists and surprises are part of the story. It seems the directors, producers and scriptwriters know this too because they're always trying to out-do and one-up themselves. So when the twists do come, they're usually too forced and out of left field. The Code has two such twists, the first of which is absolutely ridiculous, the second working a little bit better although it sounded like something out of the Ocean's 11 movies. I dislike twists for the sake of twists that basically make the rest of the movie pointless, and both twists here do just that.

Looking at the casting, this is the type of role Freeman can sleepwalk through. He's usually better in supporting roles but does all right here as the lead. Freeman doesn't come off as intimidating though, which the role requires some, but as the master thief with no match it works. Banderas as the younger recruit seems odd, and I'm convinced he has a clause in his contracts that a sex scene is required with his female co-stars. In general, Banderas doesn't come across well here. Really, it's the supporting cast that is pretty good.

I'd only seen Mitchell in Pitch Black, which I enjoyed, and in a few supporting roles, but along with Freeman she's the high point of the movie. She's a lawyer struggling with the recent death of her father who when she meets Banderas' Gabriel develops an immediate chemistry. The viewer's never quite sure of her intentions, and the script calls for her to look good in any number of tight/short outfits. As the detective on Ripley's trail, Forster is good as the weary officer who knows a job is coming but not the details of it. Rade Serbedzija, a face you'll recognize even if the name doesn't ring a bell, makes a brief appearance as Petrovich, the Russian mobster who wants the Faberge eggs.

Maybe it's just the straight to DVD stigma, but The Code never lives up to any expectations, and they weren't that high to begin with. Set in New York and other than a few locations where it's obviously NYC, the movie was filmed in Bulgaria, I guess for cheaper shooting costs. The script, the annoying, tries too hard musical score, and more than a fair share of ridiculous plot holes, The Code just wasn't that good despite efforts from star Morgan Freeman. Can't recommend this one at all.

The Code (2009): * 1/2 /****