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Defiance (2008) – Another WW II-Themed Picture
But unlike most similar movies, this one has a different viewpoint and setting.
Defiance (2008)
The Characters
Defiance is a 2008 war film directed by Edward Zwick, set in the western part of the Nazi occupied Belarusian SSR, and stars Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, and George MacKay as four Jewish brothers from Belarus who escaped the Nazi persecution and fought back to rescue fellow Jews.
The Plot
In 1941, the nazis were sweeping through Eastern Europe, searching for and imprisoning the remaining Jews. The Bielskis, Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber), Asael (Jamie Bell), and Aron (George MacKay), have had their parents slain by the local authorities, now controlled by the Nazi occupation. In order to survive, the brothers escape to the forest, where they meet up with others who have had similar happenings. As more and more of them gather into a single group, they begin to run out of vital supplies – they resort to raiding occupied villages and nazi patrols.
The movie, aside from the action scenes, talks about how survival is based firstly on having a will to fight. It also touches very delicate moral aspects – to maintain control, Tuvia shoots one of his more rebellious soldiers at one point – something which does not normally happen in a group of refugees that have a common enemy. In the search for supplies, the group also resorts to stealing from nearby occupied villages, putting their own survival on top of their brothers.
The more intense scenes are more well-done than I would generally expect of a psychological movie. While few in number, they quite accurately reflect the real outcomes of the battles, without any exaggeration.
The Acting
The acting in the movie is generally good. Though – as a matter of personal preference – I believe that, in some scenes, Daniel Craig goes too far. (Some of his actions are contradictory to the character created by all the others).
More About The Film
The film is an adaptation of Nechama Tec’s Defiance: The Bielski Partisans. Zwick began to write the script for Defiance in 1999, after acquiring the rights to Tec’s book. The movie was shot in Lithuania, very close to the border with Belarus – Co-producer Pieter Jan Brugge belived that this lent the picture more credibility, the sites being only a few hundred kilometres away from the ones in which the real events took place.
Concluding
All in all, Defiance is a great movie, well-worth seeing. Due to some scenes being longer or shorter than they should be and some minor errors in acting, I rate this movie 8.5/10.
- Ian Vehrmt
