Introduction

Uprising is a 2001 war/drama television miniseries about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

The film was directed by Jon Avnet and written by Avnet and Paul Brickman.

This miniseries was first aired on the NBC television network over two consecutive nights in November 2001.

The French title for the film is 1943, l’ultime révolte, the German title for the film is Uprising: Der Aufstand, and the Polish title for the film is Powstanie.

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Outline

On 01 September 1939, Germany invades Poland and after which the regulation was promulgated that all Polish Jews should move to the newly created Warsaw Ghetto.

As in all the ghettos, a Judenrat was appointed and was responsible for the administration of the ghetto. The film tells the moral dilemmas faced by Adam Czerniaków (Donald Sutherland), head of the Judenrat in the Warsaw Ghetto, who was ordered to carry out orders of the German authorities, including sending Jews to the Treblinka Concentration Camp.

A group of Polish Jews decide to rebel against the Germans and not to lend a hand to the murder of their brethren. They begin to organize their people in order to protect the honour of the Jewish people, but Czerniaków as the leader of the Judenrat objects to this activity, fearing violent German retaliation against the Jews in the ghetto. By the close of 1942, people living in the ghetto realise they are doomed as the deportations to Treblinka began. The rudiments of resistance are planned by Mordechai Anielewicz (Hank Azaria) together with Yitzhak Zuckerman (David Schwimmer) and laid the foundation for the Jewish Combat Organisation, Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ZOB).

The film illustrates the moral dilemmas of members of the Jewish Combat Organisation during the preparations for the revolt: “How to remain moral, in an immoral society?”

On 18 January 1943, Nazis raid the ghetto again, but this time the Jews resist. The Jewish Combat Organisation stops the Nazi raids into the ghetto. Germans return on 18 April 1943, and the uprising in the ghetto breaks out. In the intervening time, many of the ghetto residents construct hidden shelters or bunkers in the basements and cellars of the buildings, often with tunnels leading to other buildings. The handful of fighters who have weapons take to these shelters, giving the uprising the advantage of defensive positions.

The fighters hold out for more than a month. In the more than three hours mini-series, we see a realistic and docu-like representation of what happened at the Warsaw ghetto.

Cast

• Leelee Sobieski as Tosia Altman.
• Hank Azaria as Mordechai Anielewicz.
• David Schwimmer as Yitzhak “Antek” Zuckerman.
• Jon Voight as Maj. Gen. Jürgen Stroop.
• Donald Sutherland as Adam Czerniaków.
• Stephen Moyer as Simcha “Kazik” Rotem.
• Sadie Frost as Zivia Lubetkin.
• Radha Mitchell as Mira Fuchrer.
• Mili Avital as Devorah Baron.
• Eric Lively as Arie Wilner.
• Alexandra Holden as Frania Beatus.
• John Ales as Marek Edelman.
• Andy Nyman as Calel Wasser.
• Nora Brickman as Clara Linder.
• Jesper Christensen as Gen. Friedrich Krüger.
• Cary Elwes as Dr. Fritz Hippler.
• Palle Granditsky as Dr. Janusz Korczak.
• Hannah Hetzer as Girl in Trench.

Trivia

• The movie was filmed in multiple locations, including Bratislava, Slovakia and Innsbruck in Tyrol, Austria.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): Jon Avnet.
• Producer(s): Jon Avnet and Jordan Kerner.
• Writer(s): Jon Avnet and Paul Brickman.
• Music: Maurice Jarre (theme music).
• Cinematography: Denis Lenoir.
• Editor(s): Sabrina Plisco.
• Production:
• Distributor(s): NBC.
• Release Date: 04 November 2001.
• Running time: 177 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

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