Daniel Craig sets away from Agent 007 in Defiance, a story about Nazi exploitation of a rural area of Eastern Europe known as Bellorussia and the subsequent uprising that takes shape as a result. In the film, two jewish brothers, Tuvia Bielski (Craig) and Zus Tuvia (Liev Schreiber) make their way home in the countryside to witness events unfold that change their lives forever. Before long, they’ve become leaders in a resistance movement to fight the Nazis for their survival.
The acting in Defiance is intense and real. Craig and Schreiber deliver a convincing account of a life on the run and in danger where situations get the better of them. You feel for them, even when their characters make the wrong decisions. The film is jarringly realistic in it’s portrayal of the Nazi occupation. The violence is not sensationalized like in some war time movies but it is quick and brutal and does not dwell on the casualties or show too much which mimics the pace of the movie.
Director Edward Zwick portrays hardship in an honest manner and doesn’t disguise the fact that sometimes the good guys give in to temptation and resort to unethical acts to satisfy their needs. It is a story of survival so sometimes situations becomes ugly; it also about war and the portrait painted here is one of reality, where sometimes both sides lose, and lose greatly. Additionally, it is a breath of fresh air to see the Jewish people fight since many other films of this genre depict them as victims. History tells us there were Jewish arms of resistance that fought oppression so Defiance is a satisfying way to see that in action.
Though the movie does a stellar job telling the story of these two brothers and their exemplary heroism, there’s an aspect to the film which throws it off. Avid film goers and casual movie goers may see the film and the archetypal characters as something that’s been done before which in all honesty it pretty much is despite it being told from a fresh angle. The familiarity comes in the form of it having a used wartime melodrama with supporting characters that seem to come from a piece of fiction rather than historical account. It is still a story that should be told and is worth telling but for some may just need to be a rental.
Seeing this coupled with the recently released Valkryie is a good way to gain some fascinating knowledge as well as some of the lesser known heroes of the World War II era. Regardless of how many movies there exist about World War II and how we seem to have an inundation of them, there can be no wrong in maintaining public knowledge of these horrific times. If not for acting as a reminder of darker times, Defiance and movies like it plead for sake of sanity, lest history repeat itself.
– Chris Walsh
