A thoughtful and reflective interview with the legendary JUDD HIRSCH discussing the emotionally charged and powerful film RESISTANCE:1942 and his role of Bertrand, a Jew in hiding during WWII. You don’t want to miss this film or this interview.
SYNOPSIS: 1942. France is under Nazi control. The Allies have been pushed off the continent and their defeat in North Africa seems likely. Germany’s victory is nearly absolute. Under this dark shadow, a man named Jacques (Cary Elwes) uses a radio to broadcast a message of hope. He hides in an attic with his daughter Juliet (Greer Grammer) and a small group of fellow survivors (Judd Hirsch, Mira Furlan), playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with the German occupiers. The world becomes too dangerous when the Gestapo send Captain Klaus Jager (Sebastian Roche) to catch Jacques. As Klaus closes in, Jacques and his small group make a desperate bid to escape their pursuer, trusting themselves to the help of enigmatic Andre (Jason Patric), a Swiss banker. In the end, that trust may turn out to be the very thing that leads the hunter to his prey.
Written and Directed by Matthew G. Hill and Landon Johnson, RESISTANCE: 1942 stars Cary Elwes, Jason Patric, Judd Hirsch, Greer Grammer, and Sebastian Roche.
An always gracious man with a wonderful humor, JUDD HIRSCH truly speaks from the heart when discussing RESISTANCE: 1942 as this was the state of the world at the time he was a young boy, so the film and the role of Bertrand are particularly resonant to him. Listen as we talk about key moments and scenes in the film, notably in the first and third acts with his character of Bertrand, and the emotional takeaways, as well as finding and balancing the sympathetic and empathetic notes of Bertrand with those of frustration and rage. A phenomenal performance. And as comes as no surprise, Judd has a few anecdotes for me about his role in the “Independence Day” franchise, plus a little tidbit about his role as Uncle Boris in Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans”.
