'Uprising' miniseries is masterfully made

The story of the Jewish uprisings in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II often is remembered for its ultimate futility - a final, sad chapter in the Nazis' successful campaign to wipe out that city's population of 360,000 Jews. But the NBC miniseries "Uprising" takes a different measure of the Warsaw resistance. The rebellion against Nazi domination is presented as a noble defense of the human spirit, even when it was attained through death at the enemy's hands. A moving and masterful television event, "Uprising" stars Hank Azaria, Leelee Sobieski, David Schwimmer and Stephen Moyer as leaders of a ragged band of Jewish freedom fighters who struck back with surprising effectiveness against the Germans who occupied Poland from 1939 to 1945. It's based on the memoir of Simha Rotem, who was known as Kazik during the resistance (he's played by Moyer in the film). Azaria plays Mordechai Anielewicz, who in the words of one ghetto survivor was "the soul of the organization." Azaria, the heir to Richard Chamberlain as king of the TV spectaculars (he also starred in "Tuesdays With Morrie"), is tough and wily as the teacher turned guerrilla leader. "Can a man maintain his moral code in an immoral world?" Mordechai asks those around him. He raises the question more than once during Sunday's first part, in between scenes that abundantly document the cruelties and growing sadism of the Nazi occupiers. Mordechai is preparing his comrades for the end game with the Nazis, but not everyone is ready to accept the ethical logic of armed resistance. The rabbi who serves as Warsaw's spiritual leader and liaison to the Nazis (played by Donald Sutherland) urges appeasement and cooperation. He bows to the Nazis' demands even as they become more unreasonable. There's a compelling debate between the rabbi and Mordechai over the morality of killing Nazis. "It's a romantic notion that will get you all killed," the rabbi says with a huff. As Hollywood is wont to do, "Uprising" resolves this debate by focusing on a single person - in this case, an appeaser who takes up arms against the Nazis after watching one atrocity too many. What really galvanized the Warsaw resistance, in all likelihood, was simple attrition. All but 60,000 of the Jewish population either died in the ghetto or got shipped off to Treblinka. Death seemed imminent whether one fought the Nazis or not. In Part 2, the German high command responds to the growing problem in Warsaw by sending in a new and more ruthless general (Jon Voight). He orders the entire ghetto blown to bits. After a second Jewish uprising is crushed, the last of the fighters are led by Kazik into the sewers to safety. Fans of Claude Lanzmann's "Shoah" will recall the sewer rescue as the coda to that miniseries. Among viewers who have seen both, "Uprising" probably won't measure up to the majesty of "Shoah." Yet as popular entertainment this is a very fine work, and cheers to NBC for taking it on. A lot of credit is due to the unlikely partnership that created its script: executive producer Jon Avnet, whose penchant for the political is seen in his China protest movie "Red Corner," and Paul Brickman, best known for writing Tom Cruise's breakout movie, "Risky Business." "Uprising" arrives on television just as a military campaign against terrorist bands in Afghanistan is going full throttle. It is a coincidence as accidental as it is instructive. Today a military power makes a moral claim against a band of rogues; in "Uprising" the roles are reversed. Leaving morality aside - as wars will do at times - it is not hard to see in the rebels of the Warsaw Ghetto a fierce resilience, a willingness to use their deaths as valuable currency, similar to what now fuels Osama bin Laden's network of hate. The Nazis were well-fed and well-armed. The Jewish resistance was hungry and smart. Yet they continued to resist long after they had been declared officially vanquished. From that perspective, "Uprising" is a cautionary tale about imperial arrogance we would do well to remember today. Of course, bin Laden is no longer a freedom fighter. He has graduated into a full-time aggressor, turning anti-Western resentment into support for his permanent campaign of terror. By contrast, all the Warsaw resistance wanted to do was live out their days in peace. Many, in fact, pined for the one place bin Laden wants to see wiped off the planet. As Mordechai tells his girlfriend, "If we can't get to Palestine and be farmers, we'll stay here and be fighters." - To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com. @ART CAPTION:NBC presents the story of Jewish resistance in Warsaw in "Uprising" at 8 p.m. Sunday and Monday. @ART:Photo @ART CREDIT:NBC

Subdued sweeps has welcome sights

Just when I was about to write an open letter to Hollywood asking what part of normal they did not understand, along comes word that television is going to have a normal November. We're talking normal normal, not November "sweeps" normal. That's right - no idiotic reunions of "Dallas" or "Dynasty," no cheesy re-enactments of the Hula-Hoop craze. Yes sir, I'm ready for normal, and I'll take it any way I can, even from a freakishly perky mother-daughter tandem. Speaking of which ... You may recall that when the Emmys were rescheduled - the first time, that is - the E! channel yanked the red carpet from underneath Joan and Melissa Rivers. But now the carpet is back, and so are the Riverseseses. Mom will throw out the first Reagan-era joke at 5 p.m. Sunday on E!, two hours before the re-rescheduled Emmycast begins at 7 on CBS. (This newspaper printed my Emmy picks months ago; if you're still interested in them, send me an e-mail.) Movies November is usually a month for blockbuster movies and miniseries, and this year is no exception. You'll just have to look to cable to find most of them. ABC, CBS and NBC have all pared back their teleflicks the last two years. Fox is getting out of that racket entirely. Instead of making movies, the networks are finding it's more economical - and less disruptive - to make very special episodes of their most popular series. One major exception is NBC's "Uprising," a four-hour all-star miniseries about the Jewish rebellion in the Warsaw Ghetto under Nazi occupation. Starring Leelee Sobieski, David Schwimmer, Donald Sutherland and Jon Voight, it begins at 8 p.m. Sunday on Channel 41. A season of "Hallmark Hall of Fame" on CBS begins with "In Love and War" (Nov. 18). It's based on the true story of a British soldier in World War II who is protected from the Nazis by brave Italian villagers. On cable, Showtime presents "Anne Rice's The Feast of All Saints," with Jennifer Beals, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. The story is about freed blacks in New Orleans in the 1840s (Nov. 11-12). USA Network gets into the holiday spirit early with "Prancer Returns" (Nov. 20), a sequel to the 1989 movie "Prancer." No word if the rights to the life stories of Donner and Blitzen have been auctioned. TNT, apparently inspired by the Sammo Hung craze of a couple years back, is bankrolling the martial-arts movie"Invincible" (Nov. 18). Specials I suppose I shouldn't be joking about this, but I'll be tuning into A&E's special on bioterrorism Tuesday, just to hear Bill Kurtis say "deadly anthrax." And, of course, to get the wits scared out of me again. Other new specials this month: "Britney Spears: Live From Las Vegas" (Nov. 18) features the trampy (not trampy!) pop star in concert. The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, an award with a shallow pedigree (it was created in 1998), will be awarded to the noted literary humorist Whoopi Goldberg Nov. 21 on PBS. "Lady Liberty: Symbol of Dreams," about the Statue of Liberty and the people who care for it, airs Nov. 18 on the Travel Channel. It will reflect the events of Sept. 11. Find out how some of TV's classic shows managed to jump through the network hoops and make it onto the air in "The Pitch," a documentary on TV Land Nov. 16. On Veterans Day (Nov. 11), two new specials pay honor to those who defended freedom. "We Stand Alone Together" on HBO tells the real-life stories behind HBO's "Band of Brothers," which concludes Sunday. And PBS airs "War Letters," featuring correspondence and home movies of veterans from the American Revolution to the Gulf War. Very special episodes After three solid weeks of baseball playoffs and enough "Malcolm in the Middle" reruns to put even your overly excitable 7-year-old to sleep, Fox is getting down to business. And thank heavens - Fox's prime-time schedule is as good as it has ever been. In the next two weeks it unveils three brand-new shows at the top of my fall picks: comedies "The Tick" (Nov. 8) and "The Bernie Mac Show" (Nov. 14) and the drop-dead gorgeous drama "24" (Tuesday). Not to mention the season premieres of "The X-Files," "The Simpsons" and "Malcolm" (Nov. 11). Other special episodes of note: the all-musical "Buffy" (Tuesday); season premiere of "NYPD Blue" (also Tuesday) and weddings on "Providence" (Friday), "Roswell" (Nov. 13) and "Temptation Island" (Wednesday). Finally, the "E! True Hollywood Story" devotes a full four hours to burnishing the legacies of "Dallas" and "Dynasty" on Nov. 11. Yes, I know I promised there would be no retreads of '80s shows. But by the empty-headed standards of E!, a "Dynasty" flashback is as normal as sun rising in the east. They've done America proud. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com. @ART CAPTION:Bernie Mac stars with Dee Dee Davis (left) and Jeremy Suarez on "The Bernie Mac Show." @ART:Photo (color) @ART CREDIT:Fox