Movie Review: Holocaust story ‘Defiance’ is action-packed, moving, even hopeful
By Michael Janusonis
Journal Arts Writer
Out of the despair of the Holocaust comes Defiance, a remarkable tale of inspiration and determination that paints the Jews who were slated for death by the Nazis not as victims, but heroes.
That’s quite a turnaround from the way one usually thinks about the Holocaust. One may have seen Steven Spielberg’s inspirational Schindler’s List, but that was about a Gentile manufacturer who saved the lives of hundreds of Jews. And there was a TV movie about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising by a group of Jewish freedom fighters, but that ended badly.
Director Ed Zwick is no stranger to movies about heroic struggles — Glory, about a black regiment from Massachusetts in the Civil War, and Blood Diamond, about the evil side of the diamond trade, are his.
With Defiance, which is based on a little-known true story about three brothers who rescued more than a thousand Jews from the Nazis by hiding in the Naliboki Forest in Belarus, Zwick has made a film that not only celebrates life but is a rousing action-adventure tale as well. There’s hardly a moment in Defiance in which something exciting isn’t happening, whether it’s an ambush on a Nazi convoy, a surprise attack by German tanks on the fleeing refugees, or the rivalry between two brothers which threatens to sink the life-saving operation.
Zwick co-wrote the script with Clay Frohman, based on the non-fiction book by University of Connecticut professor Nechama Tec. He draws parallels between the World War II story of people running from the Nazis to the story of Moses, who led his people out of bondage thousands of years earlier. Fighting sickness and starvation, living by their wits and courage, the Jews of Defiance spend months, even years, in the wilderness, at one point finding their way to freedom blocked not by the Red Sea, but by a swamp that must be crossed to attain hoped-for salvation.
It’s June 1941 when Hitler’s army invades Belarus, then a part of the Soviet Union, killing 50,000 Jews and rounding up another 100,000 for deportation to concentration camps. The Bielski farm is overrun, but three brothers survive and vow to hide in the dense forest, coming out only for surprise revenge attacks on the Nazis and their Belarus collaborators. The three brothers couldn’t be more different, creating friction between them and explosive tension in the script.
Tuvia (Daniel Craig), assured and intense, assumes the leadership role as the band of refugees grows and grows and grows into a fairly substantial community as more and more disenfranchised Jews seek them out. He’s more interested in saving people than in traditional revenge. “Our revenge is to survive,” he says. Craig exhibits a more accessible and human side than he ever does as James Bond in the 007 films, a stalwart hero who cares deeply about his mission as savior. He’s the Moses figure.
Zus (American actor Liev Schreiber) is the more hot-headed man of action. Spoiling for a fight against the Nazi invaders, Zus despairs that Tuvia allows more and more people to join their group. This eventually causes a rift that leads to blows between the brothers, sending Zus off to join the Red Army to take on the Nazis firsthand in a series of guerrilla raids. Schreiber is memorable in a very emotional scene where Zus discovers that his wife and daughter have been killed.
The third and youngest brother, Asael (Jamie Bell, who first gained international attention in the title role of Billy Elliot), is caught in the rivalry between Zus and Tuvia, though he has strong feelings for both in a seesaw of emotions.
Zwick has created many thrilling moments in Defiance: a raid by the brothers on the house of a Nazi collaborator in which it’s not certain how it will turn out; a daring nighttime attack on a group of Nazi officers who are traveling by open car to a fancy party. Most gripping is a scene in which a Nazi soldier is captured by the camp survivors and pleads for his life.
Defiance also has its life-affirming moments — each brother finds romance among the young women who come into the camp. Especially sweet are the scenes between Bell and the angelic looking Chaya (Australian actress Mia Wasikowska). And yet the survivors, bickering among themselves with sometimes petty jealousies and rivalries, come across more as humans than as saints.
In the film’s most interesting contrast, Zwick cuts between a lovely wedding that he stages during a fluffy snowfall and frighteningly violent moments as the Red Army brutally ambushes a Nazi convoy.
The reality of anti-Semitism is always present, too, and not just from the Nazis. There are Nazi collaborators among the Belarus populace. And Zus has a crisis of confidence upon discovering that some of his brothers in arms in the Red Army do not view Jews as their comrades.
Defiance, filmed in the forests of Lithuania that give it an unearthly touch, brings an all-but-forgotten page of the Holocaust to light in a way that is both moving and hopeful.
****Defiance
Starring: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, Mia Wasikowska, Alexa Dvalos, Iben Hjelje. In English and Russian with English subtitles.
Rated: R, contains graphic violence, profanity.
http://www.projo.com/movies/content/lb_ ... 2e908.html
Non member Defiance Reviews
Moderator: Germangirl
Brothers' struggle for survival fuels 'Defiance'
The World War II action-movie "Defiance" does something deceptively simple but nonetheless powerful: It tells a compelling story in a straightforward, muscular way.
Characters are well drawn, the central story gripping, the action scenes crisp and brutal and the acting superb. In other words, "Defiance" is that rare action movie: It's smart and exciting.
Much of the success of the film, admittedly, is credit to the fascinating based-on-true events source material. The movie tells the story of the Bielski brothers (Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell), three Jewish men who kept more than 1,000 refugees alive in the harsh forests of Belarus. For almost three years, the brothers evaded German patrols while battling harsh winters and hunger — all the while still setting up a community of sorts.
The movie opens as the Bielski brothers discover their parents have been murdered by invading German soldiers. We quickly learn the Bielskis have a shady reputation — they're smugglers and always slightly on the wrong side of local law enforcement. They also know the vast local forests like the backs of their hands — something that proves useful as hundreds of Jewish refugees from the cities flood the forests in a last-ditch effort to survive.
Most of the film concentrates on the conflict between Tuvia (Craig) and Zus (Schreiber), who take drastically different views on how to deal with their German occupiers. Tuvia wants to lay low deep in the forest. Zus wants to kill as many Germans as possible. Caught in between is younger brother Asael (Bell), who tries to play peacekeeper between the brothers.
Zwick directs the story with simplicity and power, taking enough time to develop the characters of the Bielski brothers and various refugees. He shows how they formed their own community in a harsh environment.
At the same time, Zwick mounts effective action scenes. When the violence comes — Zus joins a group of Soviet partisans harassing German troops — the scenes are chaotic and full of short bursts of brutal action.
Craig — best known as the new James Bond — is excellent as Tuvia, who reluctantly turns into a leader and protector of his new community.Tuvia bristles at the charge that he thinks himself the new Moses — but he still takes the reigns of leadership.
The always interesting Schreiber ("The Manchurian Candidate") is almost as good as the hot-headed Zus, who turns out to be even more brutal than his Soviet partisan counterparts.
And Bell ("Billy Elliot") once again proves that he's made the transition from child actor to adult actor.
So don't miss "Defiance," a movie that tells a story worth telling.
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/articl ... /901090354
The World War II action-movie "Defiance" does something deceptively simple but nonetheless powerful: It tells a compelling story in a straightforward, muscular way.
Characters are well drawn, the central story gripping, the action scenes crisp and brutal and the acting superb. In other words, "Defiance" is that rare action movie: It's smart and exciting.
Much of the success of the film, admittedly, is credit to the fascinating based-on-true events source material. The movie tells the story of the Bielski brothers (Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell), three Jewish men who kept more than 1,000 refugees alive in the harsh forests of Belarus. For almost three years, the brothers evaded German patrols while battling harsh winters and hunger — all the while still setting up a community of sorts.
The movie opens as the Bielski brothers discover their parents have been murdered by invading German soldiers. We quickly learn the Bielskis have a shady reputation — they're smugglers and always slightly on the wrong side of local law enforcement. They also know the vast local forests like the backs of their hands — something that proves useful as hundreds of Jewish refugees from the cities flood the forests in a last-ditch effort to survive.
Most of the film concentrates on the conflict between Tuvia (Craig) and Zus (Schreiber), who take drastically different views on how to deal with their German occupiers. Tuvia wants to lay low deep in the forest. Zus wants to kill as many Germans as possible. Caught in between is younger brother Asael (Bell), who tries to play peacekeeper between the brothers.
Zwick directs the story with simplicity and power, taking enough time to develop the characters of the Bielski brothers and various refugees. He shows how they formed their own community in a harsh environment.
At the same time, Zwick mounts effective action scenes. When the violence comes — Zus joins a group of Soviet partisans harassing German troops — the scenes are chaotic and full of short bursts of brutal action.
Craig — best known as the new James Bond — is excellent as Tuvia, who reluctantly turns into a leader and protector of his new community.Tuvia bristles at the charge that he thinks himself the new Moses — but he still takes the reigns of leadership.
The always interesting Schreiber ("The Manchurian Candidate") is almost as good as the hot-headed Zus, who turns out to be even more brutal than his Soviet partisan counterparts.
And Bell ("Billy Elliot") once again proves that he's made the transition from child actor to adult actor.
So don't miss "Defiance," a movie that tells a story worth telling.
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/articl ... /901090354
‘Defiance’ wins battle for thrills, inspiration
***
By ROBERT W. BUTLER
“Defiance” could easily have been just a story about killing and revenge.
Well, there’s plenty of that in Edward Zwick’s latest, but “Defiance” is also about something even more challenging — building a society more or less from scratch.
The movie begins with old newsreel footage of Nazis giving stiff-armed salutes and Jews being rounded up. Then the “newsreel” morphs into full color as three Jewish brothers — Tuvia Bielski (Daniel Craig), Zus Bielski (Liev Schreiber) and Asael Bielski (Jamie Bell) — return to their parents’ farm to find a scene of slaughter.
Only their little brother (George MacKay) has survived a visit by an S.S. death squad. The kid is so traumatized he cannot speak.
Retreating into the woods of their native Belarus, the siblings plot revenge against the local police chief helping the Germans with their extermination efforts. But their plan to survive by foraging hits a snag when first a handful — and then dozens — of fugitives from persecution show up seeking protection.
The volcanic Zus, who learns his wife and children have been killed, wants only to rip apart every German he can find. He resents all these needy city Jews cluttering up his warpath with pleas for food, shelter and medicine.
One of the film’s more interesting themes is that the Bielskis aren’t particularly pious … in fact in the early part of the German occupation they ran a black market operation.
Still, the more mature Tuvia has a conscience and feels obliged to look after his fellow Jews. He becomes the group’s leader and little by little supervises the creation of a new civilization in the woods, one of crude huts, communal meals, casual relationships (all three brothers take on “forest wives”) and its own set of laws brutally enforced. For good luck, in his pocket he carries his parents’ mezuzah, a small case containing a sacred Hebrew prayer.
Tuvia and Zus often butt heads over how to run things, sometimes engaging in overt brawling … at least until Zus leaves to hook up with a band of Russian partisans. The Russkies are anti-Semitic but will make an exception for a rabid German-killer.
“Defiance” could go deeper in its contrasting of Zus the destroyer against Tuvia the builder, but that might slow things down. The screenplay by Zwick and Clayton Frohman (adapting Nechama Tec’s nonfiction Defiance: The Bielski Partisans) is above all else an action film that aims to inspire while thrilling us, and for the most part it succeeds.
There’s plenty of shooting, but even without the threat of the Germans the Bielski group faces daunting odds: disease, lack of medicine and sanitation, dwindling food supplies and frigid winters.
In fact, “Defiance” takes place almost entirely outdoors, and its depiction of this rugged environment is enough to have you shivering in your nice warm multiplex.
The real star here isn’t an actor or director Zwick but rather history itself. “Defiance” brings to life a bit of the past few of us are aware of, a story of Jews who fought back, no matter how difficult the challenge.
http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment ... 82985.html
***
By ROBERT W. BUTLER
“Defiance” could easily have been just a story about killing and revenge.
Well, there’s plenty of that in Edward Zwick’s latest, but “Defiance” is also about something even more challenging — building a society more or less from scratch.
The movie begins with old newsreel footage of Nazis giving stiff-armed salutes and Jews being rounded up. Then the “newsreel” morphs into full color as three Jewish brothers — Tuvia Bielski (Daniel Craig), Zus Bielski (Liev Schreiber) and Asael Bielski (Jamie Bell) — return to their parents’ farm to find a scene of slaughter.
Only their little brother (George MacKay) has survived a visit by an S.S. death squad. The kid is so traumatized he cannot speak.
Retreating into the woods of their native Belarus, the siblings plot revenge against the local police chief helping the Germans with their extermination efforts. But their plan to survive by foraging hits a snag when first a handful — and then dozens — of fugitives from persecution show up seeking protection.
The volcanic Zus, who learns his wife and children have been killed, wants only to rip apart every German he can find. He resents all these needy city Jews cluttering up his warpath with pleas for food, shelter and medicine.
One of the film’s more interesting themes is that the Bielskis aren’t particularly pious … in fact in the early part of the German occupation they ran a black market operation.
Still, the more mature Tuvia has a conscience and feels obliged to look after his fellow Jews. He becomes the group’s leader and little by little supervises the creation of a new civilization in the woods, one of crude huts, communal meals, casual relationships (all three brothers take on “forest wives”) and its own set of laws brutally enforced. For good luck, in his pocket he carries his parents’ mezuzah, a small case containing a sacred Hebrew prayer.
Tuvia and Zus often butt heads over how to run things, sometimes engaging in overt brawling … at least until Zus leaves to hook up with a band of Russian partisans. The Russkies are anti-Semitic but will make an exception for a rabid German-killer.
“Defiance” could go deeper in its contrasting of Zus the destroyer against Tuvia the builder, but that might slow things down. The screenplay by Zwick and Clayton Frohman (adapting Nechama Tec’s nonfiction Defiance: The Bielski Partisans) is above all else an action film that aims to inspire while thrilling us, and for the most part it succeeds.
There’s plenty of shooting, but even without the threat of the Germans the Bielski group faces daunting odds: disease, lack of medicine and sanitation, dwindling food supplies and frigid winters.
In fact, “Defiance” takes place almost entirely outdoors, and its depiction of this rugged environment is enough to have you shivering in your nice warm multiplex.
The real star here isn’t an actor or director Zwick but rather history itself. “Defiance” brings to life a bit of the past few of us are aware of, a story of Jews who fought back, no matter how difficult the challenge.
http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment ... 82985.html
Craig goes cold in 'Defiance'
Daniel Craig is a cool operator in the James Bond franchise. But he's downright frigid in "Defiance."
Based in truth, the World War II drama finds him as a resistance fighter, determined to settle scores after he and his three brothers leave Poland and set up camp in the woods.
Protecting a group of nonmilitant Polish Jews proves difficult -- when they don't want to fight. But once he shows them how to defend themselves, "Defiance" becomes a bloody free-for-all.
Directed by Ed Zwick (the guy behind "Glory"), "Defiance" has the appearance of another "Schindler's List"-quality drama. Then it takes a sharp left turn and becomes a film as violent as "Transporter" or "Terminator." Is this closer to the truth? Historians are at odds but it isn't a touching, behind-the-scenes look at the brutality.
Only Jamie Bell (as Craig's brother) and Alexa Davalos (as Craig's lover) show any true compassion. Liev Schreiber (another brother) has a moment that's so masochistic, you wonder how the group managed to survive the infighting.
Zwick knows how to hold interest -- and move a story. But at what price?
Considering recent films that have covered similar territory, it's not necessary to amp up the violence.
Craig is good (with an accent that surprises) and Schreiber has his moments. But they're like Schwazenegger and Stallone battling some faceless force.
When Zwick gets to his postscript, we're surprised at the outcome. Passion fuels the charge, but it doesn't keep it running.
"Defiance" has something to say. The only question? What, really, is it?
Rated R, "Defiance" features extreme violence.
On a scale of four stars, "Defiance" gets:
2 stars
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/article ... 5bf7f0.txt
Daniel Craig is a cool operator in the James Bond franchise. But he's downright frigid in "Defiance."
Based in truth, the World War II drama finds him as a resistance fighter, determined to settle scores after he and his three brothers leave Poland and set up camp in the woods.
Protecting a group of nonmilitant Polish Jews proves difficult -- when they don't want to fight. But once he shows them how to defend themselves, "Defiance" becomes a bloody free-for-all.
Directed by Ed Zwick (the guy behind "Glory"), "Defiance" has the appearance of another "Schindler's List"-quality drama. Then it takes a sharp left turn and becomes a film as violent as "Transporter" or "Terminator." Is this closer to the truth? Historians are at odds but it isn't a touching, behind-the-scenes look at the brutality.
Only Jamie Bell (as Craig's brother) and Alexa Davalos (as Craig's lover) show any true compassion. Liev Schreiber (another brother) has a moment that's so masochistic, you wonder how the group managed to survive the infighting.
Zwick knows how to hold interest -- and move a story. But at what price?
Considering recent films that have covered similar territory, it's not necessary to amp up the violence.
Craig is good (with an accent that surprises) and Schreiber has his moments. But they're like Schwazenegger and Stallone battling some faceless force.
When Zwick gets to his postscript, we're surprised at the outcome. Passion fuels the charge, but it doesn't keep it running.
"Defiance" has something to say. The only question? What, really, is it?
Rated R, "Defiance" features extreme violence.
On a scale of four stars, "Defiance" gets:
2 stars
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/article ... 5bf7f0.txt
A strong cast keeps 'Defiance’ from getting mired in melodrama 'Defiance’ is rescued from being melodramatic by its star cast
Beginning with 1989’s Glory, director Ed Zwick has carved out a niche entirely his own: He’s the maestro of high-minded schlock. Zwick is drawn alternately to "topical" subject matter, like 2006’s Blood Diamond (about the illegal diamond trade in Africa) and 1998’s The Siege (about the government encroaching on Americans’ civil liberties in the aftermath of a terrorist attack), or lachrymose historical epics, like 2003’s The Last Samurai.
When his movies aren’t choking on their own solemnity, they’re usually drowning in hokey melodrama. What saves them (sometimes) from disaster is Zwick’s old-fashioned showmanship.
Now comes Defiance, based on a true story of a group of World War II-era Russian Jews who form a makeshift commune in the forest so as to escape almost certain deportment to concentration camps. The movie is, like all of Zwick’s work, a soap opera with delusions of grandeur.
That it (sometimes) works is a testament to the excellent cast, not to mention Zwick’s sheer chutzpah: Who else would think to make a Holocaust movie that plays like a cross between Schindler’s List and Die Hard?
Daniel Craig plays Tuvia Bielski, the measured, even-tempered older brother of the fiery and contentious Zus (Liev Schreiber), who at the start of the film discover that their parents have been murdered by the Germans. With their two younger brothers (Jamie Bell and George MacKay), Tuvia and Zus head into the forest with a handful of neighbors, hoping to elude the Germans. But this small group rapidly expands.
Were it content to merely observe the tense dynamics among these desperate people, Defiance might have proved a modest but valuable contribution to Holocaust cinema. But modesty is certainly not Zwick’s strong suit, and so Defiance also strives to be a meditation on family, brotherhood and the question of vengeance versus passive resistance. A divide opens between Tuvia, who refuses to steal from or harm others, and the much more mercenary Zus, who believes that Jews must do whatever is necessary to survive.
Zus leaves the camp and strikes up an unsteady alliance with Russian soldiers. This being an Ed Zwick movie, there is also a predictable romantic subplot, as the recently widowed Tuvia falls for a beautiful woman played by Alexa Davalos.
It’s a whole lot of plot for a two-hour movie, but the problem here isn’t that Zwick has bitten off more than he can chew. It’s that he doesn’t necessarily know what he wants to say. There are some extremely compelling stretches in Defiance, but more commonly Zwick just flits from scene to scene, and from idea to idea, dropping provocations like bombs (watch out for the jaw-dropping scene in which the residents of the forest stomp a captured German to death). But he offers the audience no real perspective. Defiance is presumably intended as a hymn to everyday heroism, but the movie can just as easily be read as a dark-minded study of how the Holocaust brought out the worst in everyone, even its Jewish victims.
In which case, it’s best not to think too hard about Defiance, and instead enjoy the movie as a rip-roaring action thriller that, for once, doesn’t portray World War II-era Jews as a gaggle of passive victims.
And while you might be rolling your eyes as it’s unfolding, there’s pretty much no resisting the climactic showdown, which finds the artillery-equipped Jews squaring off against the Nazis. It’s quintessential Zwick: big, loud and unabashedly cheesy.
Defiance
***
Director: Ed Zwick
Stars: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber
Length: 137 min.
Rated: R (violence, strong language)
http://www.star-telegram.com/903/story/1143540.html
Beginning with 1989’s Glory, director Ed Zwick has carved out a niche entirely his own: He’s the maestro of high-minded schlock. Zwick is drawn alternately to "topical" subject matter, like 2006’s Blood Diamond (about the illegal diamond trade in Africa) and 1998’s The Siege (about the government encroaching on Americans’ civil liberties in the aftermath of a terrorist attack), or lachrymose historical epics, like 2003’s The Last Samurai.
When his movies aren’t choking on their own solemnity, they’re usually drowning in hokey melodrama. What saves them (sometimes) from disaster is Zwick’s old-fashioned showmanship.
Now comes Defiance, based on a true story of a group of World War II-era Russian Jews who form a makeshift commune in the forest so as to escape almost certain deportment to concentration camps. The movie is, like all of Zwick’s work, a soap opera with delusions of grandeur.
That it (sometimes) works is a testament to the excellent cast, not to mention Zwick’s sheer chutzpah: Who else would think to make a Holocaust movie that plays like a cross between Schindler’s List and Die Hard?
Daniel Craig plays Tuvia Bielski, the measured, even-tempered older brother of the fiery and contentious Zus (Liev Schreiber), who at the start of the film discover that their parents have been murdered by the Germans. With their two younger brothers (Jamie Bell and George MacKay), Tuvia and Zus head into the forest with a handful of neighbors, hoping to elude the Germans. But this small group rapidly expands.
Were it content to merely observe the tense dynamics among these desperate people, Defiance might have proved a modest but valuable contribution to Holocaust cinema. But modesty is certainly not Zwick’s strong suit, and so Defiance also strives to be a meditation on family, brotherhood and the question of vengeance versus passive resistance. A divide opens between Tuvia, who refuses to steal from or harm others, and the much more mercenary Zus, who believes that Jews must do whatever is necessary to survive.
Zus leaves the camp and strikes up an unsteady alliance with Russian soldiers. This being an Ed Zwick movie, there is also a predictable romantic subplot, as the recently widowed Tuvia falls for a beautiful woman played by Alexa Davalos.
It’s a whole lot of plot for a two-hour movie, but the problem here isn’t that Zwick has bitten off more than he can chew. It’s that he doesn’t necessarily know what he wants to say. There are some extremely compelling stretches in Defiance, but more commonly Zwick just flits from scene to scene, and from idea to idea, dropping provocations like bombs (watch out for the jaw-dropping scene in which the residents of the forest stomp a captured German to death). But he offers the audience no real perspective. Defiance is presumably intended as a hymn to everyday heroism, but the movie can just as easily be read as a dark-minded study of how the Holocaust brought out the worst in everyone, even its Jewish victims.
In which case, it’s best not to think too hard about Defiance, and instead enjoy the movie as a rip-roaring action thriller that, for once, doesn’t portray World War II-era Jews as a gaggle of passive victims.
And while you might be rolling your eyes as it’s unfolding, there’s pretty much no resisting the climactic showdown, which finds the artillery-equipped Jews squaring off against the Nazis. It’s quintessential Zwick: big, loud and unabashedly cheesy.
Defiance
***
Director: Ed Zwick
Stars: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber
Length: 137 min.
Rated: R (violence, strong language)
http://www.star-telegram.com/903/story/1143540.html
Film review: ‘Defiance’ made more impressive by being true
In 1941, the Nazis were marauding their way through Eastern Europe, killing Jews along the way, burying them in mass graves. Compound that atrocity with the fact that some citizens were aiding the German forces by supplying names and locations of remaining Jews who had escaped the slaughter.
In the beginning of Edward Zwick’s “Defiance,” set in Belarus, we see black and white evidence of these murders and burials, but very soon it is clear that the director of “Glory” is on to something more poignant than a rehash of what we already know. With co-writer Clayton Frohman and working from a book authored by Nechama Tech, Zwick recounts the true story or a group of brothers who basically declare they will not only rebel, but establish a community of their people.
Not only fighters equipped with rifles and machine guns, but women, meek philosophers — anyone needing aid and willing to pitch in. It is an extraordinary story — one made more touching and poignant because it is based on fact. It is, I guarantee, a story you will not forget.
Biblical overtones
At the center of the story, which takes on biblical tones, is Daniel Craig’s Tuvia Bielski; yes, the Craig better known for his work as OO7. Working both with Tuvia and against him is Zus, the second of four Bielski brothers. He is played by the always excellent Liev Schreiber. In a lesser role is the younger and more impetuous Bielski brother, played by Jamie Bell, who earned his stripes in “Billy Elliott.”
Though it may, on the surface, conjure up comparisons to films such as “The Dirty Dozen,” “Defiance” enhances action with more thoughtful ideas, deeper and more meaningful. What a story. A man with no ambition to become a leader rounds up 1,200 Jews, leading them to safety as he and his more militant brother take up arms to defend and attack the oppressors.
It seems a miracle that Tuvia rises as a natural leader with the skills of a diplomat. Recognizing that the Russian-Communist forces face virtual extinction by the Nazis, Tuvia forges an alliance; even if some Russian troops are anti-Semitic, they recognize the power of numbers when it comes to saving their own skins.
Though the analogy is not pushed, we have before us the story of a Moses delivering his people to safety. In that respect, you can regard “Defiance” as an Old Testament story.
In addition, there’s even a cross-cutting episode Zwick obviously borrowed from the baptism scene in “The Godfather,” one emphasizing the dual, conflicting realities of war and peace. While we witness a merry wedding in the forest, Zwick inserts scenes of a battle somewhere else spearheaded by Zus.
Sensitive topic
One more thing: this movie belies the notion that all Jews allowed bad things to happen to them. It’s a touchy subject I prefer not to delve into, but it is worth thinking about. Just as interesting is the fact that after the war, Tuvia and Zus Bielski, heroes by any standard, immigrated to Brooklyn, where they ran a successful taxi business.
As for the performances, they are all first-rate. I’ve admired Craig’s work in all his movies, and though it is unfair to compare his work here with his appearance as James Bond, I regard “Defiance” as the Daniel Craig movie I admire most; I also feel that without his name, Zwick might not have received financial backing.
Thank you, Mr. Craig for lending your economic weight and turning in a solid performance as well.
http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009/j ... _Defiance/
In 1941, the Nazis were marauding their way through Eastern Europe, killing Jews along the way, burying them in mass graves. Compound that atrocity with the fact that some citizens were aiding the German forces by supplying names and locations of remaining Jews who had escaped the slaughter.
In the beginning of Edward Zwick’s “Defiance,” set in Belarus, we see black and white evidence of these murders and burials, but very soon it is clear that the director of “Glory” is on to something more poignant than a rehash of what we already know. With co-writer Clayton Frohman and working from a book authored by Nechama Tech, Zwick recounts the true story or a group of brothers who basically declare they will not only rebel, but establish a community of their people.
Not only fighters equipped with rifles and machine guns, but women, meek philosophers — anyone needing aid and willing to pitch in. It is an extraordinary story — one made more touching and poignant because it is based on fact. It is, I guarantee, a story you will not forget.
Biblical overtones
At the center of the story, which takes on biblical tones, is Daniel Craig’s Tuvia Bielski; yes, the Craig better known for his work as OO7. Working both with Tuvia and against him is Zus, the second of four Bielski brothers. He is played by the always excellent Liev Schreiber. In a lesser role is the younger and more impetuous Bielski brother, played by Jamie Bell, who earned his stripes in “Billy Elliott.”
Though it may, on the surface, conjure up comparisons to films such as “The Dirty Dozen,” “Defiance” enhances action with more thoughtful ideas, deeper and more meaningful. What a story. A man with no ambition to become a leader rounds up 1,200 Jews, leading them to safety as he and his more militant brother take up arms to defend and attack the oppressors.
It seems a miracle that Tuvia rises as a natural leader with the skills of a diplomat. Recognizing that the Russian-Communist forces face virtual extinction by the Nazis, Tuvia forges an alliance; even if some Russian troops are anti-Semitic, they recognize the power of numbers when it comes to saving their own skins.
Though the analogy is not pushed, we have before us the story of a Moses delivering his people to safety. In that respect, you can regard “Defiance” as an Old Testament story.
In addition, there’s even a cross-cutting episode Zwick obviously borrowed from the baptism scene in “The Godfather,” one emphasizing the dual, conflicting realities of war and peace. While we witness a merry wedding in the forest, Zwick inserts scenes of a battle somewhere else spearheaded by Zus.
Sensitive topic
One more thing: this movie belies the notion that all Jews allowed bad things to happen to them. It’s a touchy subject I prefer not to delve into, but it is worth thinking about. Just as interesting is the fact that after the war, Tuvia and Zus Bielski, heroes by any standard, immigrated to Brooklyn, where they ran a successful taxi business.
As for the performances, they are all first-rate. I’ve admired Craig’s work in all his movies, and though it is unfair to compare his work here with his appearance as James Bond, I regard “Defiance” as the Daniel Craig movie I admire most; I also feel that without his name, Zwick might not have received financial backing.
Thank you, Mr. Craig for lending your economic weight and turning in a solid performance as well.
http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009/j ... _Defiance/
REVIEW: Defiance
It is possible that a considerable share of moviegoers will reject Edward Zwick’s starkly handsome Defiance as old-fashioned and corny. It’s an action movie that invites us to contemplate heroism unalloyed by ulterior complications, to believe in an essential goodness in the core of the human heart.
Either you go along with this sort of humanistic storytelling or you don’t, and the sight of Daniel Craig, branded in our imagination as James Bond, atop a white horse tests the limits of our gullibility. Later, when Craig shoots that magnificent animal for meat, we either gasp or giggle.
Gigglers may be excused with no prejudice from Defiance, but if you share Zwick’s unabashed wonder that such men as Tuvia Bielski (Craig) and his brothers emerge in our species’ darkest hours, then you’ll find Defiance as rousing and inspiring as the director intended. While as history it is entirely insufficient (anyone who wants to know about the Eastern European Jewish resistance during the Nazi occupation should start with Nechama Tec’s 1993 book of the same title as the film), as cinema it is thrilling.
And as cinema it variously overstates and streamlines, compresses and invents, and trims the wild random foliage of history into neat topiary. In doing this it takes the risk all art takes - that of distorting the world, of rendering the catastrophic poetic, and suggesting that luck places less of a role in who lives and dies than it in fact does. Tuvia and his brothers were brave but no braver than thousands who died as quickly as their murderers’ bullets penetrated their skulls. The Bielskis - whom Tec’s book depicts as wily near-criminals in the prewar days - were survivors more than heroes, and their great workdidn’t involve fighting the Germans but in saving Jews.
In the fall of 1941 the Nazi occupiers of Western Belorussia near the Polish border began to execute the local Jewish population. The Bielski brothers, Jewish peasant farmers, took to the vast Nalibokiforest, where they eventually established an itinerant community of Jews. But what made the Bielski group different from other Jewish groups that resisted the Nazis was eldest brother Tuvia’s decision that all Jews would be welcome - even the “malbushim,”the old, frail and physically incompetent who would be a liability in any military action.
Tuvia - who became a New York cab driver after the war and lived until 1987 - became a kind of Moses figure as he provided a haven for more than 1,200 Jews. In the three years the Bielskis and their charges lived in the forest, only 50 members of thecommunity died.
Zwick injects drama into the story by speculating on the tensions between Tuvia and his brother Zus (Liev Schrieber), who is more inclined to combat than stealth. After a fistfight of biblical proportions the two brothers split up, with Zus attaching himself to a ragtag Soviet military remnant.
Though Zwick is not above broad strokes - some of the ghetto refugees who seek shelter in the forest come across as stereotypical kvetching intellectuals - the inverted social order of the forest community is depicted with impressive subtlety and precision. In the forest, it is the tough Jews - the shtarkers more inclined to action than deep thoughts - who run the show.
There is something blunt and powerful about Defiance, whichfeels like Glory, Zwick’s 1989 Civil War drama that limned a similarly under-noticed chapter in history. A cynic might call it formula, but it’s responsible, clear-eyed and honorable moviemaking that aspires to a mass audience - the best kind of Hollywood product.
8.9/10
http://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/200 ... r/national
It is possible that a considerable share of moviegoers will reject Edward Zwick’s starkly handsome Defiance as old-fashioned and corny. It’s an action movie that invites us to contemplate heroism unalloyed by ulterior complications, to believe in an essential goodness in the core of the human heart.
Either you go along with this sort of humanistic storytelling or you don’t, and the sight of Daniel Craig, branded in our imagination as James Bond, atop a white horse tests the limits of our gullibility. Later, when Craig shoots that magnificent animal for meat, we either gasp or giggle.
Gigglers may be excused with no prejudice from Defiance, but if you share Zwick’s unabashed wonder that such men as Tuvia Bielski (Craig) and his brothers emerge in our species’ darkest hours, then you’ll find Defiance as rousing and inspiring as the director intended. While as history it is entirely insufficient (anyone who wants to know about the Eastern European Jewish resistance during the Nazi occupation should start with Nechama Tec’s 1993 book of the same title as the film), as cinema it is thrilling.
And as cinema it variously overstates and streamlines, compresses and invents, and trims the wild random foliage of history into neat topiary. In doing this it takes the risk all art takes - that of distorting the world, of rendering the catastrophic poetic, and suggesting that luck places less of a role in who lives and dies than it in fact does. Tuvia and his brothers were brave but no braver than thousands who died as quickly as their murderers’ bullets penetrated their skulls. The Bielskis - whom Tec’s book depicts as wily near-criminals in the prewar days - were survivors more than heroes, and their great workdidn’t involve fighting the Germans but in saving Jews.
In the fall of 1941 the Nazi occupiers of Western Belorussia near the Polish border began to execute the local Jewish population. The Bielski brothers, Jewish peasant farmers, took to the vast Nalibokiforest, where they eventually established an itinerant community of Jews. But what made the Bielski group different from other Jewish groups that resisted the Nazis was eldest brother Tuvia’s decision that all Jews would be welcome - even the “malbushim,”the old, frail and physically incompetent who would be a liability in any military action.
Tuvia - who became a New York cab driver after the war and lived until 1987 - became a kind of Moses figure as he provided a haven for more than 1,200 Jews. In the three years the Bielskis and their charges lived in the forest, only 50 members of thecommunity died.
Zwick injects drama into the story by speculating on the tensions between Tuvia and his brother Zus (Liev Schrieber), who is more inclined to combat than stealth. After a fistfight of biblical proportions the two brothers split up, with Zus attaching himself to a ragtag Soviet military remnant.
Though Zwick is not above broad strokes - some of the ghetto refugees who seek shelter in the forest come across as stereotypical kvetching intellectuals - the inverted social order of the forest community is depicted with impressive subtlety and precision. In the forest, it is the tough Jews - the shtarkers more inclined to action than deep thoughts - who run the show.
There is something blunt and powerful about Defiance, whichfeels like Glory, Zwick’s 1989 Civil War drama that limned a similarly under-noticed chapter in history. A cynic might call it formula, but it’s responsible, clear-eyed and honorable moviemaking that aspires to a mass audience - the best kind of Hollywood product.
8.9/10
http://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/200 ... r/national
Defiance Movie Review
Yes, yes, I know what you are thinking . . . not another WWII, Nazi Germany related movie. It has been a wave of films on the subject crashing into theater shores. If that is what you are thinking, I recommend that you open your mind, drop the pessimism, and give this one a chance. If you are thinking ‘sure, bring it on’ then you are in for a treat. I’ve seen Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Valkyrie, and now this one and I can say that this is arguably the best of the three. You are taken into the woods with the Bielski brothers as they struggle to escape, hide, survive, and every now and then fight back. They are joined by hundreds of others that are trying to do the same. The Germans and German supporters of that time seemed to enjoy hunting Jews just because they exist. In their eyes the Jews were less than dogs and they were treated as such. This film is full of death, unspeakable pain, suffering and yet at the same time hope and determination. The Bielski brothers, more specifically Tuvia (Daniel Craig), are thrust into leadership roles within this make-shift community in the middle of a Belarusian forest. Tuvia is viewed as a Moses, leading God’s people out of bondage and away from Egypt. He somewhat reluctantly assumes the role and he has to deal with maintaining constant vigilance, rough winters, illness, food shortages, and of course the monster that lurks in all of us that could easily surface under these conditions. Oh yeah, by the way, this movie is based on a true story so all of this actually happened. That makes the movie that much more impressive to me and helps take it over the top, especially if it is done right. You will escape with them, hide with them, suffer with them, struggle with them, want vengeance for them, route for them, fight with them, and feel for them. This film was done right.
The two most captivating aspects of this film are the storyline and the performances. Taking the lead in the performances category are the three main stars, Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, and Jamie Bell who play the Bielski brothers. All three give strong performances and the rest of the cast support them well with convincing performances also. They all did a pretty good job with the accents too. As for the storyline, again, being based on a true story is a plus. It was comfortably laid out and it didn’t really drag at all which is not bad for a movie that is well over 2 hours long. Even though the majority of the movie takes place in the woods (it was actually shot in Lithuania, very close to the actual location of the Bielski camp site), the cinematography was amazing. Oscar winner Edward Zwick (Glory, Legends of the Fall, Courage Under Fire, The Siege, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond) has done another masterpiece which he can add to his collection. As Writer, Director, and Producer of this picture, I think he has an opportunity for another Oscar. Defiance is about the revenge that the Jews are seeking not necessarily by fighting back, but by staying alive.
http://smartcine.com/blog/2009/01/15/de ... ie-review/
Yes, yes, I know what you are thinking . . . not another WWII, Nazi Germany related movie. It has been a wave of films on the subject crashing into theater shores. If that is what you are thinking, I recommend that you open your mind, drop the pessimism, and give this one a chance. If you are thinking ‘sure, bring it on’ then you are in for a treat. I’ve seen Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Valkyrie, and now this one and I can say that this is arguably the best of the three. You are taken into the woods with the Bielski brothers as they struggle to escape, hide, survive, and every now and then fight back. They are joined by hundreds of others that are trying to do the same. The Germans and German supporters of that time seemed to enjoy hunting Jews just because they exist. In their eyes the Jews were less than dogs and they were treated as such. This film is full of death, unspeakable pain, suffering and yet at the same time hope and determination. The Bielski brothers, more specifically Tuvia (Daniel Craig), are thrust into leadership roles within this make-shift community in the middle of a Belarusian forest. Tuvia is viewed as a Moses, leading God’s people out of bondage and away from Egypt. He somewhat reluctantly assumes the role and he has to deal with maintaining constant vigilance, rough winters, illness, food shortages, and of course the monster that lurks in all of us that could easily surface under these conditions. Oh yeah, by the way, this movie is based on a true story so all of this actually happened. That makes the movie that much more impressive to me and helps take it over the top, especially if it is done right. You will escape with them, hide with them, suffer with them, struggle with them, want vengeance for them, route for them, fight with them, and feel for them. This film was done right.
The two most captivating aspects of this film are the storyline and the performances. Taking the lead in the performances category are the three main stars, Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, and Jamie Bell who play the Bielski brothers. All three give strong performances and the rest of the cast support them well with convincing performances also. They all did a pretty good job with the accents too. As for the storyline, again, being based on a true story is a plus. It was comfortably laid out and it didn’t really drag at all which is not bad for a movie that is well over 2 hours long. Even though the majority of the movie takes place in the woods (it was actually shot in Lithuania, very close to the actual location of the Bielski camp site), the cinematography was amazing. Oscar winner Edward Zwick (Glory, Legends of the Fall, Courage Under Fire, The Siege, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond) has done another masterpiece which he can add to his collection. As Writer, Director, and Producer of this picture, I think he has an opportunity for another Oscar. Defiance is about the revenge that the Jews are seeking not necessarily by fighting back, but by staying alive.
http://smartcine.com/blog/2009/01/15/de ... ie-review/
Craig brings an understated tone to 'Defiance'
Based on a true story, "Defiance" is about as far from the suave, high-tech James Bond character that its star Daniel Craig can get. Yet, because it is spellbinding in its sheer brutality, unflinching in its courage and enduring in its hope, the extraordinary struggle will leave you both shaken and stirred.
A solid, understated, yet dazzling Craig stars as Tuvia Bielski, one of three Polish brothers who led hundreds of Jews to escape the Nazis in 1941. The three narrowly avoid the fate of their parents and together with a small group of followers seek cover in the deep woods they frolicked in as children. As word spreads of their bravery, they are joined by others hoping to escape capture and certain slaughter.
Trying to stay one step ahead of the encroaching German officers who are rewarded for every Jew they successfully "hunt," the motley assortment at first stays with sympathetic landowners, one of whom wonders aloud: "Why is it so hard being friends with a Jew?"
As more Jews learn of their daring trek for survival, they join Tuvia's "troops" and form a self-sustaining, nomadic, caring community. Constantly on the move, they must forage for food, and to withstand the bitter Belarus winter, they build shelters using the most primitive of tools.
After losing family that were supposedly safe, Tuvia's younger brother Zus (a brooding yet powerful Liev Schreiber) becomes enraged and eager to fight. Unable to ignore the tactics of the "Final Solution," he seeks revenge through barbaric means. Cool and clear-headed, his wise older brother, now reluctant leader of their group, tries to reason with him: "We may be hunted like animals, but we will not become animals," Tuvia says.
Zus soon leaves to join the Russians, who despite their anti-Semitism, he is convinced, also aim to defeat the Third Reich. Meanwhile, Tuvia's burgeoning army of families and stragglers subsist on what they can find or steal and steadily accumulate weapons, supplies, clothing and most important, bullets.
As their numbers increase, so does their resolve. Valuables are collected and bartered for items deemed useful to the common good. Skills or talent are taken advantage of, again, to benefit everyone. Armed only with a sense of righteousness and nerves of steel, the downtrodden manage to keep even the frailest among them alive, remaining ever-mindful of the chilling indifference that surrounds them.
The performances are both raw and remarkable. The juxtaposition of a traditional Jewish wedding replete with a rabbi, canopy, music and dancing, and a jarring, bloody ambush of an armed truckload of SS soldiers only reinforces their faith in the face of unrelenting danger and unspeakable evil.
A touching yet sweeping epic, the incredible story serves as both a compelling admonition of "never again" and an unsettling, timely warning against the tyranny of the majority. Along with the horrors and heroics we see the humanity of disbelief and the insatiable instinct for self-preservation.
Despite the machinelike efficiency of their enemy, the refugees' unwavering will to fight and their ability to protect the weak, all while in hiding, is nothing short of astonishing. And between the palpable fear and senseless violence, Tuvia reminds us all of their very basic mission: "Our revenge is to live."
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/1367750.html
Based on a true story, "Defiance" is about as far from the suave, high-tech James Bond character that its star Daniel Craig can get. Yet, because it is spellbinding in its sheer brutality, unflinching in its courage and enduring in its hope, the extraordinary struggle will leave you both shaken and stirred.
A solid, understated, yet dazzling Craig stars as Tuvia Bielski, one of three Polish brothers who led hundreds of Jews to escape the Nazis in 1941. The three narrowly avoid the fate of their parents and together with a small group of followers seek cover in the deep woods they frolicked in as children. As word spreads of their bravery, they are joined by others hoping to escape capture and certain slaughter.
Trying to stay one step ahead of the encroaching German officers who are rewarded for every Jew they successfully "hunt," the motley assortment at first stays with sympathetic landowners, one of whom wonders aloud: "Why is it so hard being friends with a Jew?"
As more Jews learn of their daring trek for survival, they join Tuvia's "troops" and form a self-sustaining, nomadic, caring community. Constantly on the move, they must forage for food, and to withstand the bitter Belarus winter, they build shelters using the most primitive of tools.
After losing family that were supposedly safe, Tuvia's younger brother Zus (a brooding yet powerful Liev Schreiber) becomes enraged and eager to fight. Unable to ignore the tactics of the "Final Solution," he seeks revenge through barbaric means. Cool and clear-headed, his wise older brother, now reluctant leader of their group, tries to reason with him: "We may be hunted like animals, but we will not become animals," Tuvia says.
Zus soon leaves to join the Russians, who despite their anti-Semitism, he is convinced, also aim to defeat the Third Reich. Meanwhile, Tuvia's burgeoning army of families and stragglers subsist on what they can find or steal and steadily accumulate weapons, supplies, clothing and most important, bullets.
As their numbers increase, so does their resolve. Valuables are collected and bartered for items deemed useful to the common good. Skills or talent are taken advantage of, again, to benefit everyone. Armed only with a sense of righteousness and nerves of steel, the downtrodden manage to keep even the frailest among them alive, remaining ever-mindful of the chilling indifference that surrounds them.
The performances are both raw and remarkable. The juxtaposition of a traditional Jewish wedding replete with a rabbi, canopy, music and dancing, and a jarring, bloody ambush of an armed truckload of SS soldiers only reinforces their faith in the face of unrelenting danger and unspeakable evil.
A touching yet sweeping epic, the incredible story serves as both a compelling admonition of "never again" and an unsettling, timely warning against the tyranny of the majority. Along with the horrors and heroics we see the humanity of disbelief and the insatiable instinct for self-preservation.
Despite the machinelike efficiency of their enemy, the refugees' unwavering will to fight and their ability to protect the weak, all while in hiding, is nothing short of astonishing. And between the palpable fear and senseless violence, Tuvia reminds us all of their very basic mission: "Our revenge is to live."
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/1367750.html
-
Daskedusken
- Posts: 14137
- Joined: Thu May 31, 2007 8:14 pm
- Location: Always heading somewhere
Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber Are Jews Who Fight In ‘Defiance’
“Defiance” doesn’t try to answer one of the most frequently asked questions in regard with the Holocaust: “Why didn’t the Jews fight back? “ It just goes on to show some of them did resist persecution and murder heroically.
"There is this misperception that the Jews only went willingly to the slaughter," director Edward Zwick said in an interview. "And in fact, the new history and scholarship tells us that there was so much resistance. This is just one instance."
Unlike the majority of the WWII dramas, which would portray the Jews as victims, “Defiance” is one that has them bravely playing field.
Based on the 1993 book by Nechama Tec, “Defiance: The Bielski Partisans,” about a group of Jewish partisans, who form a wary alliance with Russian resistance fighters building a small society during the World War II in the Belarussian forests, beyond the reach of Nazi patrols, “Defiance” is the true story of a band of brothers Tuvia Bielski (Daniel Craid), along with Zus (Liev Schreiber) and Asael (Jamie Bell), who become resistance fighters leading the community to freedom.
The plot can be reduced to one early exchange of lines between a Red Army colonel and one of the brothers.
“Jews don't fight!" he sneers.
“These Jews do!" Craig's flinty Bielski replies.
In between constant relocations and guerilla raids, ducking enemy gunfire, the brothers manage to emerge as community leaders, protecting everyone who joins their camp, welcoming even the urban sophisticates who had looked down on them in times of peace.
Offering shelter to all refugees, recruiting some as fighters and protecting women, the elderly and children, the Bielskis inevitably find themselves in a difficult situation. Zus believes sheltering women and weaker men (eventually more than 1,000) makes them easy targets while Tuvia sees a moral duty to take in all newcomers, which leads to disagreements and temporary separation.
The community evolves rapidly and as leaders, the Bielskis are faced with the constant need to find food for the people, get medicine and stay warm while pondering whether to launch guerrilla attacks on the Germans or stay out of their way.
Director Edward Zwick tried his best to show the audiences that the struggle they faced was not just about running away from the Germans, trying to survive in the woods, but also the threats from within caused by frustration, fear and lack of good judgment.
Armed with Slavic accents, the actors speak English most of the time and subtitled Russian to the Russians.
In addition to a good script and acting, the cinematography is amazing, and some of the scenes are truly memorable. Natural locations in the dense woods of Lithuania are awe-inspiring and beautifully autumnal before turning bitterly wintry.
Lead actors Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber deliver solid charismatic and committed performances while Craig, once again, proves that he’s so much more than the blond James Bond.
http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Daniel_C ... 33440.html
“Defiance” doesn’t try to answer one of the most frequently asked questions in regard with the Holocaust: “Why didn’t the Jews fight back? “ It just goes on to show some of them did resist persecution and murder heroically.
"There is this misperception that the Jews only went willingly to the slaughter," director Edward Zwick said in an interview. "And in fact, the new history and scholarship tells us that there was so much resistance. This is just one instance."
Unlike the majority of the WWII dramas, which would portray the Jews as victims, “Defiance” is one that has them bravely playing field.
Based on the 1993 book by Nechama Tec, “Defiance: The Bielski Partisans,” about a group of Jewish partisans, who form a wary alliance with Russian resistance fighters building a small society during the World War II in the Belarussian forests, beyond the reach of Nazi patrols, “Defiance” is the true story of a band of brothers Tuvia Bielski (Daniel Craid), along with Zus (Liev Schreiber) and Asael (Jamie Bell), who become resistance fighters leading the community to freedom.
The plot can be reduced to one early exchange of lines between a Red Army colonel and one of the brothers.
“Jews don't fight!" he sneers.
“These Jews do!" Craig's flinty Bielski replies.
In between constant relocations and guerilla raids, ducking enemy gunfire, the brothers manage to emerge as community leaders, protecting everyone who joins their camp, welcoming even the urban sophisticates who had looked down on them in times of peace.
Offering shelter to all refugees, recruiting some as fighters and protecting women, the elderly and children, the Bielskis inevitably find themselves in a difficult situation. Zus believes sheltering women and weaker men (eventually more than 1,000) makes them easy targets while Tuvia sees a moral duty to take in all newcomers, which leads to disagreements and temporary separation.
The community evolves rapidly and as leaders, the Bielskis are faced with the constant need to find food for the people, get medicine and stay warm while pondering whether to launch guerrilla attacks on the Germans or stay out of their way.
Director Edward Zwick tried his best to show the audiences that the struggle they faced was not just about running away from the Germans, trying to survive in the woods, but also the threats from within caused by frustration, fear and lack of good judgment.
Armed with Slavic accents, the actors speak English most of the time and subtitled Russian to the Russians.
In addition to a good script and acting, the cinematography is amazing, and some of the scenes are truly memorable. Natural locations in the dense woods of Lithuania are awe-inspiring and beautifully autumnal before turning bitterly wintry.
Lead actors Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber deliver solid charismatic and committed performances while Craig, once again, proves that he’s so much more than the blond James Bond.
http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Daniel_C ... 33440.html
-
Daskedusken
- Posts: 14137
- Joined: Thu May 31, 2007 8:14 pm
- Location: Always heading somewhere
Review: Defiance
Plot: This is the true story of the four Bielski Brothers, who escape their Nazi-occupied hometown to seek refuge in the Belarusian forest. While hiding from the Nazis, the brothers eventually formed a union with the Soviet Partisans, and organized the rescue of roughly 1,200 Jews from the local ghetto. They eventually constructed a makeshift village where they hoped they could wait out the war, all the while staying one step ahead of the Nazis.
Review: I’m amazed that it took Hollywood this long to make a film about the Bielski brothers. Considering their incredible deeds, one would have thought the brothers would have been immortalized years ago, but for some reason, their story has never been told- until now.
In the hands of Edward Zwick, who seems to specialize in these large scale historical adventure films (GLORY, THE LAST SAMURAI, THE BLOOD DIAMOND), DEFIANCE is a top notch war film, boasting a few really solid performances from Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, & Jamie Bell, who play the three elder Bielski brothers.
I think DEFIANCE will go a long way towards proving Daniel Craig’s versatility outside of the James Bond franchise, as I never had any trouble accepting him as a Jewish partisan as opposed to a sauve British superspy. While I hope he sticks with Bond for at least a few more films, I think he’ll one day follow in Sean Connery’s footsteps as one of the few actors to successfully escape the typecasting that comes along with that iconic role. Craig’s work as the eldest, and most even tempered brother is a bit surprising, as I would have assumed he would have gotten cast as the bad ass middle brother, Zus, but instead that role goes to Schreiber.
In many ways, Schreiber has the more complex role, as he seems less interested in saving lives than slaughtering Nazis, as opposed to his nobler and traditionally heroic kin. To me, Schreiber always seemed like an actor in the Dustin Hoffman mold, but here he proves that he’s just as adept at playing the action hero as Craig is, and I can’t wait to see how he turns out as Sabertooth is this summer’s WOLVERINE.
I also really liked Jamie Bell, as the younger, more inexperienced brother. It’s nice to see Bell finally appear in a good movie, as he’s been in a number of stinkers over the last few years (Peter Jackson’s KING KONG, JUMPER), but to his credit, even when the movie was bad, he was always good.
Probably my only beef with DEFIANCE is the over the top musical score by James Newton Howard, who’s usually one of my favorite composers, but here delivers your typical War movie score, meaning that it’s alternately too bombastic, melodramatic, or both. Still, this is a relatively small problem, and the score was never bad enough to interfere with my enjoyment of the film.
While it’s probably a little too traditional to win any Oscars, DEFIANCE is nonetheless a very well made, dynamic slice of World War II history, and well worth watching. I highly recommend it.
Grade: 8.5/10
http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=24701
Plot: This is the true story of the four Bielski Brothers, who escape their Nazi-occupied hometown to seek refuge in the Belarusian forest. While hiding from the Nazis, the brothers eventually formed a union with the Soviet Partisans, and organized the rescue of roughly 1,200 Jews from the local ghetto. They eventually constructed a makeshift village where they hoped they could wait out the war, all the while staying one step ahead of the Nazis.
Review: I’m amazed that it took Hollywood this long to make a film about the Bielski brothers. Considering their incredible deeds, one would have thought the brothers would have been immortalized years ago, but for some reason, their story has never been told- until now.
In the hands of Edward Zwick, who seems to specialize in these large scale historical adventure films (GLORY, THE LAST SAMURAI, THE BLOOD DIAMOND), DEFIANCE is a top notch war film, boasting a few really solid performances from Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, & Jamie Bell, who play the three elder Bielski brothers.
I think DEFIANCE will go a long way towards proving Daniel Craig’s versatility outside of the James Bond franchise, as I never had any trouble accepting him as a Jewish partisan as opposed to a sauve British superspy. While I hope he sticks with Bond for at least a few more films, I think he’ll one day follow in Sean Connery’s footsteps as one of the few actors to successfully escape the typecasting that comes along with that iconic role. Craig’s work as the eldest, and most even tempered brother is a bit surprising, as I would have assumed he would have gotten cast as the bad ass middle brother, Zus, but instead that role goes to Schreiber.
In many ways, Schreiber has the more complex role, as he seems less interested in saving lives than slaughtering Nazis, as opposed to his nobler and traditionally heroic kin. To me, Schreiber always seemed like an actor in the Dustin Hoffman mold, but here he proves that he’s just as adept at playing the action hero as Craig is, and I can’t wait to see how he turns out as Sabertooth is this summer’s WOLVERINE.
I also really liked Jamie Bell, as the younger, more inexperienced brother. It’s nice to see Bell finally appear in a good movie, as he’s been in a number of stinkers over the last few years (Peter Jackson’s KING KONG, JUMPER), but to his credit, even when the movie was bad, he was always good.
Probably my only beef with DEFIANCE is the over the top musical score by James Newton Howard, who’s usually one of my favorite composers, but here delivers your typical War movie score, meaning that it’s alternately too bombastic, melodramatic, or both. Still, this is a relatively small problem, and the score was never bad enough to interfere with my enjoyment of the film.
While it’s probably a little too traditional to win any Oscars, DEFIANCE is nonetheless a very well made, dynamic slice of World War II history, and well worth watching. I highly recommend it.
Grade: 8.5/10
http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=24701
