Defiance (2008)Director: Edward Zwick
Starring : Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, Alexa Davalos
Starring : Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, Alexa Davalos
Plot: Defiance is a different kind of World War II movie, one that looks at the Holocaust from a unique angle--telling the true story of a group of Jews in Eastern Europe who fought back. On the run from the Germans and the local police, the three Russian Bielski brothers--Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber), and Asael (Jamie Bell)--hide out deep in the forest. Their numbers swell as more and more refugees join them, coming together to form a community while also patrolling with guns and shooting the enemy to stay alive. But Tuvia and Zus have a falling-out over what future direction to take: Tuvia thinks it best to remain in the forest despite the coming vicious winter, but Zus wants to join the Russian resistance, which is aggressively attacking the Nazis. Complicating the situation are the women in their lives, known as forest wives--Lilka (Alexa Davalos) shows interest in Tuvia, Bella (Iben Hjelje) grows close to Zus, and young Chaya (Mia Wasikowska) and Asael flirt with the tingles of first love. As food grows scarce, diseases increase, and the Nazis become determined to find and kill them, the Bielski Otriad struggles to survive, battling back when necessary, including taking up arms. Directed by Edward Zwick (Glory, Blood Diamond) and based on the nonfiction book by Dr. Nechama Tec, Defiance is a powerful thriller filled with tense human emotion, a gripping story about brotherly love and the basic human instinct to survive against all odds. Craig (Layer Cake, Casino Royale), Schreiber (Everything is Illuminated), and Bell (Billy Elliot) are terrific as the Bielski brothers, three very different individuals who simply refuse to just lie down and die. (rottentomatoes.com)
Review: The amount of amazing stories of survival that come out of WWII and Hitler's Holocaust continues to amaze me every time one of them comes to the surface. Defiance is the story of a group of Jewish people residing in Belarus who escaped death and persecution by setting up camp in the forest and fighting off the German infantry as they closed in on them. Let me start off by saying, what a cool story! There were great stories of survival, redemption, and even romance. And to think that it is a true story makes it all the more astonishing. By poking through some of the special features it seems like the movie's rendition, save some of the dramatic additions, was incredibly accurate according to the real life accounts. The director and writers met with the author of the book as well as some of the survivors who are still living in an attempt to create the greatest possible level of realism. I think that this effort really came across well on the big screen. The overall acting was very well done and you could really feel the desperation and angst that this situation brought forth. The supporting characters really made the movie for me. The dynamic between the Jewish intellectuals and Jewish working class was very interesting to me and these actors portrayed their transformation wonderfully. Getting a little more specific I am not at all impressed with Daniel Craig's acting abilities. He is mediocre at best and I truly think that if he hadn't got lucky landing the role as James Bond, nobody would know who he is.
The cinematography got to be a little repetitive as the movie went on. Specifically there were maybe four or five main battle scenes throughout the movie and I would say that 75% of the people fighting were shot and "died" in the same manor. By this I mean that the choreography of being shot and then dying was the same most of the time. Person gets shot in the head or upper body while taking cover and rolls over in the same way as all of the others. Now I've never been shot so I don't know how my body would react to it, but I have to believe that it wouldn't be the same way as everybody else's body reacted. This was a small concern of mine as the rest of the film was fairly well done. The battle scenes, while not to the intensity levels of Saving Private Ryan, gave you some very unique points of view based on the strategy of the fighters.
This movie was not one of the best films that I've ever seen but it was well worth the rent. There are some interesting interviews and special features to go along with the film as well. It is an amazing story of survival and perseverance that I would recommend for everybody to experience. I rate this movie at 3.5 stars out of 5 total stars.
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daddy and i watched this one together and thoroughly enjoyed it :)
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