A teenage orphan fights against the Red Army at the end of WWII and in the aftermath is 'adopted' by a Commissar. Years later he is sent to London during the Cold war to work for the KGB, where he questions his life.
Similar titles
Reviews
Perhaps I should have been warned by the banner across the top of the box 'THE PAST IS A PLACE YOU CANNOT ESCAPE' (so profound - not) and the fact that the only praise longer than one word they have is from something called Boys Toys, who proclaim 'SEARING WARTIME SET-PIECES'. The latter at least is true.Here's an edited synopsis: 'In the last days of World War II, a teenager is forced into battle against the advancing Red Army ... he is captured by the Russians and disappears behind the Iron Curtain ... 17 years later, he is recruited ... and sent on a mission by the KGB to London'.Bought this because Tom Schilling was in it but have to agree with the other reviewers - his bits are excellent, the German back story is the only watchable part, mostly because of his natural, effortless, sympathetic performance and far more credible and moving than the 60s spy episodes. They should have expanded this to movie length and completely cut the 60s section.This film was written and directed by Reg Traviss. There's a reason this guy's not a household name and this movie could be it. First, he's cast Ed Stoppard (no relation to Tom or Miriam - oh wait, yes, he's their son; nothing like getting a part on merit, and this is nothing like it). His lines are delivered in an affectless tone, reminiscent of Keira Knightley at the wooden beginning of her career, with one of those irritating schizophrenic accents British people adopt to please Americans, often heard in US teen drama, such as Dawson's Creek and One Tree Hill; for the first half of a sentence, they sound as if they're in Downton, for the second half, they sound like they're in EastEnders, i.e. posh then common. No one in England really talks like this. And whereas everything Tom Schilling does is finely nuanced; Ed Stoppard's a blunt instrument and he doesn't have the charisma to carry a weak storyline. It's not entirely his fault as he doesn't have much to work with.Then, if he started as German, then went to live in Russia, why doesn't he speak English with a foreign accent? It has to be pointed out that Tom Schilling is way more convincing in a second language than Ed is in his first. It would have made more sense (since Schilling was playing 10 years younger than his actual age), to age him a mere 7 years and allow him to play the older version too. At least there would have been a consistency as far as accents are concerned.The story and script are dire. The 60s spy plot is stultifying (consisting of Ed waiting on a succession of benches to rendezvous with other spies), though they try to spice it up by adding Michelle Gayle (not really known for her acting and this isn't going to help) as a supremely uninteresting love interest. They both like art so they fall in love. It's as bland and as undeveloped as that but no doubt Reg thought it represented a real meeting of minds.There's a very irritating cameo from Bernard Hill as a disaffected Communist who spouts tripe like: 'Are we the leaders? Or are we the led? Or are we neither?' which must pass for deep in Reg Traviss's world and Ed's too as he responds 'It's a lot to think about'. No, it ain't. Who cares? Worse than all this though is the voice-over, which is another attempt to be deep, with Ed delivering such pearls of wisdom as 'strength through experience to again become strong'. Hmm. This doesn't mean anything. Or 'the unstoppable force of nature swept through my heart'. Neither does this. But Reg is fond of 'unstoppable force'; it crops up more than once.Don't go thinking this has anything much to do with either the Joy Division of the Nazis or the band of the late 70s. If only.My final verdict is that there's just about enough Tom Schilling to warrant any fan of his watching this movie.
I just happened to notice that this film was about to start on "Movies4Men" TV Channel, so I decided to give it a try. I am glad that I did. I really enjoyed this movie about a young German who arrives in London in 1962 as a Russian spy. The film shows in various flashbacks how this young man had ended up in the situation he is now in. The battle scenes of Russian soldiers fighting in the rubble of Berlin against the remnants of German resistance is well handled and the brutality by some of these soldiers against one young girl in particular, is realistic. As an espionage fan I also liked the spy element as well, with some good background 1960's Shadows music. It is well worth seeing should you get the chance to do so.
I didn't expect much when I rented this relatively low budget English language WW2 flick set on the Eastern Front – not a great start and up against greats like "Cross of Iron" and "Enemy at the Gate" not to mention US and German productions such as "Downfall" and "Saving Private Ryan", but I couldn't resist the T-34 tanks which adorn the DVD sleeve design. However, I was pleasantly taken aback. "Joy Division" is IMO European cinema at its best and shows that we Brits can make powerful, thought provoking drama too.SPOILERS – the film is the biopic of protagonist Thomas, who starts off as a Hitler Youth troop in the last months of WW2 and ends up as a Soviet spy in the Cold War. The story unravels in flash-back and flash-forward between 1945 to 1962 and bookended with a third contemporary setting in 1970s South America where he has fled (like so many other ex-Nazis, ex-Soviets), and is bound by Thomas' inner-struggle not only to re-discover his lost identity, but to come to terms with the trauma of his lost love.In keeping with so many other cinematic epics, "Joy Division" is at times terribly depressing yet never slow in pace and the bursts of wartime action and moments of innocent tenderness keep you glued to the screen. The WW2 segments are by far the more enthralling of the film but rely on the dialogue heavy Cold War segments to make sense of the futility of war and it's dreadful after affects, which for me was the underlying point of the movie.The film's emotional core comes with Thomas' doomed romance with Melanie. The two 15 year old lovers spend their time flirting at Hitler Youth rallies but as they begin to develop something much deeper the Red Army invade eastern Germany and Thomas is thrust into hopeless battle as one of the defenders of the crumbling Reich. No brutality is spared as the story takes one dark turn after another. As columns of refugees run westwards for their lives, Thomas goes up against fleets of Russian tanks in battle scenes nothing short of "Saving Private Ryan", while Melanie is captured twice and violently gang-raped by dozens of Soviet troops each time. Surviving the onslaught and finally reunited as the war comes to an end, Thomas is witness to Melanie's third gang-rape and henceforth the breaking point of the young lad's life.Reflecting on his wartime experiences while caught up in a Kafkaesque Cold-War conspiracy in 1960s Moscow and London, Thomas the KGB agent is forced to re-explore himself and eventually he re-defines his lines of loyalty. The film has a surprisingly happy end of sorts and uniquely combines war drama, action, and political thriller.
In 1944, the fourteen years old teenager Thomas (Tom Schilling) is convoked to fight in the German Army. He survives, but his town is destroyed, his family dies in a bombing and his sweetheart Melanie (Bernadette Heerwagen) is raped and murdered by the Russian Army. A Commissar brings the orphan Thomas to Soviet Union, and he is sent to the military school. Years later, Thomas (Ed Stoppard) becomes an agent of KGB and in 1962, during the Cold War, he is assigned to work in London. Living with ghosts from the past in constant fear and paranoia, he meets the black Londoner Yvonne (Michelle Gayle), who gives him the strength of joy."Joy Division" is a movie with an engaging and very cruel drama of war, and a confused spy story in times of Cold War. If the story was limited to the impressive situation of the survivors of the Russian invasion, it would be excellent. But the part of espionage never works and is a complete mess. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Regras da Guerra" ("Rules of the War")