Defiance (DVD)

...destruction.

Defiance is a film about the struggle to exist, there is no specific enemy. Although the Nazis are always looming the film focuses on the partisans enduring freezing temperatures, hunger and illness during a bitter winter. They also fear misfortune from within as fear and doubt threaten to overcome them, leading to confusion and rebellion.

In this way this is a film about a big family, a community. With ...
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Defiance is a compelling story of how a community was formed and how they survived in a freezing winter without hardly any food or supplies. Believe me I know about freezing cold - only last week we had temperatures at night of nearly - 25. It shows how they faced adversity and responded to it. And we musn't forget that not only did they survive as a family they saved hundreds of other people. I think the final number ... more

Film Only
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Why is it in most films the Jews are always portrayed as a defenceless and misfortunate race who are incapable of fighting back? Put yourself in their shoes - what would you do? If your family was about to be murdered and all your possessions taken away, would you just stand there and let it happen or would you try to defend yourself to stay alive? A difficult question to answer for most of us, no doubt - or perhaps it is something that we don't like to think about.

Well, this new film, based on the book written in 1993 by Nechama Tec, looks at the holocaust from a different perspective and gives us a different interpretation. Edward Zwick, the glossy director of Blood Diamond bases his film on the facts surrounding the Bielski family and the Bielski partisans. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Bielski partisans I will explain. They were groups of local, untrained civillian fighters from around the area of Nowogrodek and Lida which is now known as Belarus in Eastern Europe but did belong to the Second Polish Republic at the beginning of World War 11. They formed one of the largest groups of Jewish partisans in the Second World War.

This is their story.............

The year is 1941 and the film opens with the aftermath of a monstrous raid on the Bielski family home. The four brothers; Tuvia, Zus, Asael and Aron escape the devastation and retreat back into the woods where they were brought up in, and used to play. These boys aren't exactly angels. Tuvia has a history of smuggling and the other brothers have stolen the odd thing or two. They are are tough cookies and can handle themselves. They aren't afraid to kill in cold blood, they can handle their drink and they know their way through the dense forest. The brothers want revenge and it isn't too long before they start discussing how to get their own back on those accountable for killing their family. The time has come to fight back.

As they continue to camp in the forest and steal food and supplies from farms they come across other displaced Jews escaping from the ghettoes. This arrival brings new personalities and new skills to the camp. Each member is given a job for the benefit of the community. Together, they form the Bielski partisans and as the word spreads they are joined by more Jews willing to help fight their cause in return for food and shelter.

Eventually a community is formed which came to be known as a Bielski otriad and the band of outlaws go about their business in agressive Robin Hood style. Killing Russian collaborators in cold blood, shooting anyone who challenges their authority and slaughtering Germans. Eventually, more join the camp and this heavy responsibility weighs heavy on Tuvia's (Daniel Craig) shoulders. He takes it upon himself to mount his white steed and become the leader establishing a stable community and saving his fellow Jews from the evil of the Nazi's. Zus (Liev Schreiber) , the hot-headed brother, unable to free his mind from the awful memories of the death of his wife and child becomes restless. He craves revenge and wants German blood. Tuvia has aready had his revenge on the man who was responsible for murdering his family and massacring people in the ghettoes. Now he wants peace and stability for him and his people.

Consequently, arguments between the two brothers arise and there is a divide.

To add a little romantic fervour each brother chooses a forest wife, as you do stuck out in the middle of nowhere in a cold winter. The seasons change and the Bielski's have to survive the hardships of a freezing winter, starvation and enemy patrol whilst still keeping their humanity and sanity. Can they do it?

Summary
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I couldn't wait to see this film because living in Poland, interersted in Jewish history and the holocaust, I thought this would be a great movie for me to watch. Oh, and I like Daniel Craig. So what's my verdict you may well ask. Good or bad?

Read on..............

Some of the publicity I saw and read before watching the film was in my view, false. This film was portrayed by some of the media as being extremely violent.

I have to disagree - it wasn't what I would call graphically violent. There are some shootings in the earlier part of the film and at the end some battles showing the intensity of war but there certainly aren't any scenes of non-stop violence and torture, and what violence we do see is bloodless. We are even spared the horrific scenes of violence at the begining of the film. What went before the afermath is left to our imagination.

Is this film about revenge? As far as revenge goes - Yes, there are many scenes of revenge but I wouldn't say this was the main important thread. I see this film more as a remarkable story of empathy and survival than slaughter and destruction.

Defiance is a film about the struggle to exist, there is no specific enemy. Although the Nazis are always looming the film focuses on the partisans enduring freezing temperatures, hunger and illness during a bitter winter. They also fear misfortune from within as fear and doubt threaten to overcome them, leading to confusion and rebellion.

In this way this is a film about a big family, a community. With strength in numbers and their individual skills, the Jews must realise that to survive in the wild they have to need each other and work together.

Central to the story are the three brothers, their reactions to their misfortunes formed by their different personalities. Aron (George Mackay) is only a child, silent through shock and fear. Aesel (Jaime Bell) is in his late teens and seems to be shaken the most by the traumatic happenings. The two elder brothers seem to be able to cope better with their feelings yet find themselves at odds with each other. Zus is the most spiteful, calculating and out for revenge. Tuvia is more sympathetic but sometimes indifferent. Obviously, this leads to decisions within the Bielski family and Jewish community. It's very interesting to see how all of the brothers develop and what choices they eventually make. Not everything goes to plan and I find this makes interesting story telling.

Good performances from all the cast especially from Daniel Craig who is his usual, unsmiling, tough and macho self. I have often thought for a while now how he could easily be Polish with his complexion and brilliant blue eyes. What I did think was rather silly was his freedom speech he gave whilst mounted on his white horse. A cross between Henry V and Braveheart. Although dressed to looked like a battling rebel in his brown leather jacket he still looks rather clean shaven and not that dishevelled. Hardly authentic. Where is the dirt and grime - remember he is living in an impenetrable forest? Also, I did wonder sometimes as he shoots down the enemy whether he had forgotten what movie he was in. He definitely had the look of Bond and not a Bielski partisan. Well, I suppose it all adds a bit of drama to the proceedings.

Schreiber is also excellent as the tough, rough hot head and the chemistry between the two brothers is admirable. Jaime Bell's acting can't be faulted either and I would say these three guys are the reason the film works. They keep it together.

I feel the script and the character development let's the film down. This is an inspiring story based on real people but the characters seem to be empty and flat. The director (Edward Zwick) and screenwriter (Clayton Frohman) have introduced the character roles but not fed us enough snippets of personality and characteristics to make the people memorable.

The story telling creates a good balance. We see action and drama and are not swamped with terror scenes like in some other holocaust movies. If there is one flaw then it is the lack of vision from Zwick. To me there isn't any individual touch on this film - it could have been made by any American director. It doesn't have the stamp of a Spielberg or Polanski. Some of the scenes are not original either and there are many a wartime cliche thrown in. This is one amazing story but I feel this is not an amazing film.

Cinematography - Eduardo Serra is a gifted camera man and his forest scenes are enchanting if not authentic. I love the sultry blues and green touches of the film which give it a slight Tolkein feel. Putting the artisitic splendour to one side I have to say that in reality this camp wouldn't have any fairy tale quality to it. So where is the grit? Although the costumes look great they are all too clean and look like they have never been in a forest at all. We have some Jews walking around, with perfectly trimmed beards, wearing fedora hats and fine woven scarves. If they were held up in a forest for nearly a year as portrayed they wouldn't look like they had just walked out of Saville Row. Just to be pedantic - in the true story they lived in the forest for 2 years and the forest filming in the movie was in Lithuiania not Belarus.

As for the action scenes - I did think they seemed rather staged and glossy and I never really felt any tension amongst our band of outlaws.

Final Word
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On the whole I think I was disappointed. This could have been a truly amazing film but somehow it seems to have fallen flat on its face. It's obviously been released in time for the Oscars but even the timing is bad with what is going on in Gaza.

Even though the film isn't up to scratch it did make me think about a few things. There are a some scenes where the Jews actually look like they are enjoying killing the Nazis. I did ask myself - are they enjoying it because they have got their revenge or is it a release of emotional tension after all the years of torment and persecution? Although there is the necessity to kill, at the same time they want to keep their dignity and don't want to suddenly become like their persecutors. Although, as I said earlier, I don't think this film is about total revenge, it made me think about their options when a German was captured. What should they have done? Hold him prisoner, kill him or release him? I think we see in the film that there are no easy answers, decisions have to be made and the partisans have to hold on to their humanity when making them. Are they doing what they had to do to survive or did they go to far? You will have to decide.

Extra Final Word
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Defiance is a compelling story of how a community was formed and how they survived in a freezing winter without hardly any food or supplies. Believe me I know about freezing cold - only last week we had temperatures at night of nearly - 25. It shows how they faced adversity and responded to it. And we musn't forget that not only did they survive as a family they saved hundreds of other people. I think the final number who walked out of the camp when the area was liberated was 1,230 partisans included women and children. Even if the movie is slightly flawed I still recommend this as it is an amazing story of how these Jewish people fought back and perservered through bleak times.

Summary: A Fascinating and Interesting story 

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