Is this a compelling act of defiance, or just a mediocre Holocaust picture?
Daniel Craig: Tuvia Bielski
Liev Schreiber: Zus Bielski
Jamie Bell: Asael Bielski
Alexa Davalos: Lilka Ticktin
Allan Corduner: Shamon Haretz
Marc Feuerstein: Isaac Malbin
Tomas Arana: Ben Zion Gulkowitz
George MacKay: Aron Bielski
Jodhi May: Tamara Skidelsky
Directed By: Edward Zwick
Written By: Clayton Frohman and Edward Zwick
Release Date: December 31, 2008
Running Time: 137 minutes
Rated R for violence and language.
Defiance arrives at the tail end of a season that was filled with Nazi and Holocaust dramas. It is no secret that these films are commonly scanned, analyzed, and examined for nomination possibilities, and are always sought after by moviegoers during the holidays. Defiance wanted a piece of the pie too. Unlike most of its ilk however, Director Edward Zwick has crafted a film geared more towards action and the theme of revenge. Defiance is not perfect, but certainly accessible entertainment laced with an inspirational true story.
This is based on the book by Nechama Tec, entitled Defiance: The Bielski Partisans. It is 1941, and the location is Belarus when Hitler's army is advancing east. When the area becomes Nazi occupied, the four remaining Bielski brothers, Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber), Asael (Jamie Bell), and Aron (George MacKay), seek shelter and protection in the Belorussian forest. They must be cautious since the local police are in cahoots with the Germans, which led to the killing of the rest of their family. What begins as a simple retreat for the brothers grows into a small community as more Jewish refugees are drawn into the woods for the food and shelter their camp offers. As Tuvia refuses to turn away anyone, the rising population stirs more problems. Zus and Tuvia hold opposite opinions as far the "eye for an eye" philosophy is concerned. If that wasn't enough, sickness, starvation, and the approaching winter threaten the situation greatly, while the Germans continue to hunt them down.
Daniel Craig assumes the Maximus, Leonidas, and William Wallace style role with bold encouraging speeches, and an attitude that strives to defend the group, but not be overly cold blooded at a price that risks everyone's safety. Although Craig is first and foremost an action hero, he is quite versatile and talented as a performer. Hence the reason one can believe him as a Jew. Tuvia is basically pronounced as the leader of the camp, but it was not a position he asked for. It fell into place because his personality evokes the most even-minded form of leadership, a quality the others preferred to Zus' unwavering quest of vengeance. Craig's turn is very compelling, and the profundity of his character becomes more intriguing as time rolls along.
The best portrayal of the film is undoubtedly Liev Schreiber as Zus, the brother that wants blood, and doesn't care who stands in his path. These earth-shattering events change him into a distraught, unstable, and unpredictable person. The complicated nature of Zus, and the more peaceful stance of Tuvia causes one to be torn between who to side with. Should we cheer when Zus shoots down Nazi after Nazi, or respect Tuvia's goal to keep the group at a distance from danger and place safety above all else? Schreiber is simply magnetic each time he appears on screen. He expands Zus into much more than a brother out for revenge. It is easy to forget Schreiber's talent due to his shaky resume, but he will not go unnoticed now as this leads into a part for the upcoming blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
The supporting cast of Defiance manages to be satisfactory next to the two powerful leads. Jamie Bell thrives on some of the memorable dialogue he was presented with as Asael Bielski. Bell is a proficient actor, whose contribution in Mister Foe was commendable, but sadly 2008 will remember him in the disaster that was Jumper. What keeps the heart of Defiance beating strongly is that the three chief brothers have undeniably firm chemistry, and act like brothers would. George MacKay is the youngest Bielski ,Aron, but is left with barely any lines. One of the love interests is depicted by Alexa Davalos as Lilka Ticktin. Davalos almost stumbled permanently after the cancellation of the convoluted series Reunion, but her role in The Mist and now Defiance will help. Though, the romance angles of the story are by far the least noteworthy.
Defiance has clear intentions to turn all the common Holocaust clichés upside down in favor of an action-packed adventure. While Zwick and company achieve this for the majority of the film, they do not dodge all the stereotypes completely. This is not necessarily a detriment, but definitely important to mention. It seems the new trend in Hollywood to subtly fool viewers is to label the film "A True Story" instead of "Based on" or "Inspired by." I first noticed this with Changeling. Defiance is no more accurate to the facts than any normal Hollywood effort. We understand the fact that these brothers were incredibly brave, and their tale deserves to be told to millions. After the story is selected, the crew will of course fine tune the proceedings as they see fit.
Like any Edward Zwick motion picture, the action is brilliantly choreographed and executed with precision timing to induce suspense and exhilaration. What makes them all the more mesmerizing is that the drama and relationships interspersed between the explosions and gunfire holds our attention marvelously until the transitions takes place. A few of Zwick's films, such as Courage Under Fire or The Siege have the tendency to be glitzier and more flamboyant than they need to be, and that is the primary flaw of Defiance. It reeks of Hollywood-esque glaze. Those anticipating another classic like The Last Samurai or Blood Diamond might be slightly disappointed, but Defiance is easily above average.
Eduardo Serra is recruited again from Blood Diamond as the cinematographer, and he captures the coarse and violent atmosphere of the thick forest, in addition to its splendor. His ability to make evening and night time sequences stand out as much as the daytime moments is outstanding. As the final exhibition of his talents in 2008, James Newton Howard (The Dark Knight) hands in another glorious score that is distinctive, yet arousing and invigoration.
Despite any carping, Defiance is a magnificent experience because it does not settle on exciting battle sequences or stirring romances for fulfillment. The characters are faced with problems that challenge their judgments and moral grounds. The arcs are evident and hypnotizing to behold. The intense religious themes add fresh, deep meat to the bones of the underdog outline. The Jewish refugees fleeing from the Nazi's is compared to the Exodus, and parallels between Tuvia and Moses are drawn as well. This proves that Defiance is an ambitious, thrilling, and emotional ride simultaneously.
The 411: Defiance is a superb film, and if its fate is comparable to most Edward Zwick films, it will only get better with age. Most of his films are underrated, but the fact that he touches so many different genres with each effort makes them appealing to just about every type of viewer. The Holocaust has been a popular topic this year, and luckily some stories try to be creative. This is not a four-star masterpiece, but your rating will depend on how heavily you nitpick. Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber give terrific performances that will most likely fall through the cracks for award nominations, but they are worth mentioning here. I saw this just before year's end, and thought it might shuffle my top 10 around, but it misses that just barely. It might have been an honorable mention, but In Bruges was better and I had to keep that on there. Look for this to open wider soon!
Defiance is finally out and I love it! To co-inside with the release, there is a series of online games available to play for free online at www.defiancemovie.co.uk
Posted By: Jim (Guest) on January 09, 2009 at 10:41 AM
coincide is what he meant...
Posted By: spelling (Guest) on January 09, 2009 at 09:40 PM
I am aware that for some of you, what you will read in this post might blow your mind and you will simply refuse to believe in it. So don’t take my words for granted. If you are interested in this subject do your own research and find out for yourself what was really going on in “Jerusalem” and what Bielski’s were doing during WW2. Please don’t missunderstand me. I know history o Jews in II World War a bit. I know about their truly HEROIC fight in Jewish Upraising in ghetto in Warsaw in 1943(do not mistake it with Warsaw Upraising done by Polish Home Army in 1944) and I admire them for that. But the reason for writing this post is my awarness that most of you guys are not familiar with very delicate and complicated history of Poland, Ukraine and other Easter Europeans countries during WW2. So I hope that you will be open to hear some real facts about Bielski’s brothers. So let’s put some facts on the table. 1. There were actually 4 Bielski’s brothers: Tewje (Tuvia), Asael, Zus and Aron. Youngest of them -Aron Bielski (he changed his surname to Bell from 1951) together with his wife Henryka Bell is currently charged of kidnapping 93 yers old polish lady Janina Zaniewska living in Florida and stealing from her about $250 000 . 2. Bielski’s Brothers were operated in Naliboki Forest between 1942-1944 (before WW2 it was Polish-Russian border) and there were 2 “family camps” organized by Jews. First one: "Jerosolima" (950 people included lots of women and children) were runs by Bielski’s Brothers and has about 162 armed peple. Second one (560 people, mostly Jews escaped from ghettos) was commanded by Simcha Zorin and had 73 armed people. The main goal for this family camps was not to fight with Germans but to survive the war. 3. Polish civilians living near Naliboki Forrest were regularly raided for food confiscations by Germans, Soviets, ordinary robbers and also by Bielski's and Zarin's "partisans", and as reported by Polish Home Army (PHA) to HQ- they were most cruel from all. Polish civilians were complaining to PHA that Bielecki’s and Zorin’s partisans were constantly abusing them, raping women and sometimes children and threaten that if they don’t give them food and animals Soviets will burn them to the ground (( Soviets were controlled Jews family camps). So PHA has requested from Soviets to stop sending Bielecki’s people for food confiscation . 4. According to Jozef Marchwinski, polish communist who married Jews girl named Ester living in "Jerosolima" camp and Tuvia’s assistance for some time: “there were four of Bielski’s brothers, strong and handsome lady-killers for women in family camps. They were quick to alcohol and girls but very slow to fight. The oldest one,Tuvia, were commanding not only all Jews in family camp, but also a beautifull and not small “harem” like king Saud in Saudi Arabia. In the camp, where Jews families very often were going to bed hungry, where mothers where tried to feed their babies with dry brests, begging for additional spoon of soup them - in this camp another live was flourish, other rich world. In Bielecki’s dug-outs and their closest cammerades, tables were heavy from food and drinks, and large bunch of beautiful women always encircles Tuvia and his 3 brothers. Those women doesn’t know hunger and poorness. They were always beautifully dressed and full of expensive jewerly, and never used their delicate white hands for work”. From Soviets reports: “Tuvia Bielski doesn’t engage in fight but he is speculate in units. He was taking gold from his partisans to buy guns but instead of buying guns he kept gold for himself.” Tuvia Bielski himself in his memories published in Palestine in 1947 emphasizes that his “Jerosolima”: “never antered in action with occupant”. 5. The Institute of National Remembrance in Poland is currently running an investigation about pacification of Naliboki village done by Soviets and Bielski’s partisans and this is qualified as a communist crime and crime against humanity ( 128 people were slaughtered ). The villagers have a really bad luck. Naliboki village was excactly on route for Bielski’s men heading to the Naliboki forrest and for Soviets units coming back from the forrest. Many times food and animals were confiscated from them, women were raped and some men killed. So at some point when villagers saw them coming they ring church bells to warn other villages and men were preparing themselves for defending their households. That annoyed Bielski’s very much, but Soviets even more. So in 8 of may 1943 at 5am, together (Soviet's and Bielski's "partisans") surrounded the village and within 2 hours they sloughtered 128 people, mostly when sleeping in beds. These are just handfull of information about real history of Bielski’s brothers. And I hope you will spend a minute to think about them. It’s not so cristal clear like some people wants. They saved many Jews over there and no one will take that from them but the way they've done that is far from being heroic fighters... They do almost no fight with Germans, 90 percent of their time they spent sitting in the camp or "organizing" food (through robbery and confiscations) which affects badly civilians living in the area (mostly polish ones).I wish they story was as pure, as beauty as they put it in the film but that simply is not true.
Posted By: artkicz (Guest) on January 12, 2009 at 09:07 AM
Copyright � 2011 411mania.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
Click here for our privacy policy. Please help us serve you better, fill out our survey.
Use of this site signifies your agreement to our terms of use.
