Defiance, released in 2009, tells the story of the three Bielski brothers fighting for freedom for the Jewish, in German occupied Poland. After the brutal murder of the Jewish population in their town, the three brothers escape to the forest where they are joined by many other Jewish people who have also fled the persecution. The eldest of the brothers, Tuvye (Daniel Craig), makes the decision to try to save and hide as many Jewish people as possible within compounds they have built in the woods and as such forms and takes leadership of what he calls the Otriad Partisan. With the German SS and finally the German Army seeking them out, their lives are never safe, but as Tuvye argues at least they are free. The special effects on the film were great, at certain points when confronting the German army or SS for example it was hard to believe they weren't actually fighting, which I guess is the point!
The film is based upon true events, the Bielski brothers were real people living in Poland, who did go on to save many fellow Jews through their bravery. They never sought recognition for their actions, which is why many people are unaware of this tale of heroism. I for example did not hear about these brothers until I watched a Ray Mears programme where he emulated how they would have lived and survived in the woods!
I think this film has done a great job of telling the tales of these three brothers and of the hardship the Jews faced living in the woods. I can't imagine how terrifying or how hard it was to live the lives these people were forced to live during wartime. The film was saddening in parts, but I have to say I didn't feel upset throughout, I think the strength of these people meant that whilst you were sad about their situation, you always admired them and in some sense it was uplifting to see them continuing to fight anti semitism by simply remaining alive.
I thought the entire cast played their parts well, I didn't feel let down by any of their performances and I felt that the entire film was done respectfully. At first I thought that I wouldn't be able to take Daniel Craig seriously in this role, because I did not like him in the Bond films, but he did do a great job. I also felt that Liev Schreiber, who played the second eldest brother Zus, was portrayed amazingly and both he and Daniel Craig interacted really well.
The rest of the main cast is as follows:
Asael Bielski Jamie Bell Lilka Ticktin Alexa Davalos Ben Zion Gulkowitz Tomas Arana Isaac Malbin Mark Feuerstein Tamara Skidelsky Jodhi May Riva Reich Kate Fahy Yitzhak Shulman Iddo Goldberg
The entire cast list can be found at the movies imdb page (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034303/)
The dvd is currently retailing at £6.99 on hmv.com with free delivery (price as of 16/08/2009). If however you just want to rent the film I would recommend renting it from itunes as I did for £3.49, providing you have some way to hook the laptop up to your television, or if you don't mind, watching it on your laptop.
As far as dvd extras go I cannot comment because I rented the movie. One thing I would like to say however, is that although I really enjoyed the movie and thought it was well done, I would not go on to purchase the dvd. This is because I think it is a great film, however I am not sure you will want to keep rewatching it. I know I won't watch it often enough to justify it taking space on the shelf, in fact I may never end up watching it again, however I would recommend that everyone watches this film once to fully appreciate the bravery of these men.
I am giving this film a well deserved 5/5, even though I wouldn't rewatch I think the film was amazing and deserves the full five stars as the cast were great, the special effects well done and the overall film was done, I felt, very respectfully.
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I'm sure I remember seeing a documentary about the Bielskis a few years back - I have a feeling it was by Ray Mears. Keeping meaning to see the film itself as it was such a fascinating story.
Advantages: Based on a remarkable true story. Strong convincing acting. The soundtrack. Disadvantages: Deviates from the true story a mite too much. Cliched scenes.
MAFARRIMOND 20.06.2009 ·
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Review of Defiance (DVD)
Aug 16th, 2009
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